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More poems by Raymond CarverRaymond Carver | Print this page.Print | Order a PoetryNotes Analysis of this poem.Analysis | View and Write CommentsComments

What The Doctor Said

Raymond Carver

He said it doesn't look good
he said it looks bad in fact real bad
he said I counted thirty-two of them on one lung before
I quit counting them
I said I'm glad I wouldn't want to know
about any more being there than that
he said are you a religious man do you kneel down
in forest groves and let yourself ask for help
when you come to a waterfall
mist blowing against your face and arms
do you stop and ask for understanding at those moments
I said not yet but I intend to start today
he said I'm real sorry he said
I wish I had some other kind of news to give you
I said Amen and he said something else
I didn't catch and not knowing what else to do
and not wanting him to have to repeat it
and me to have to fully digest it
I just looked at him
for a minute and he looked back it was then
I jumped up and shook hands with this man who'd just given me
something no one else on earth had ever given me
I may have even thanked him habit being so strong


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Added: 29 Jun 2002 | Last Read: 6 Jul 2008 5:46 PM | Viewed: 6703 times

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URL: http://plagiarist.com/poetry/5057/ | Viewed on 6 July 2008.
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