ACCOUNT OF MY DAYS
Sequence: 4
ALL THE NURSING IN THE WORLD
fellow citizens I speak to you of health
there is an epidemic of alterations
in loving each other
we are dying of each other
a cancer in how I look at you
straight from the infection of the moment
we race to the illness of the ages
in their enclosure of remedy
hundreds of the sick
made of cotton made of glass
could become instruments of healing
to the hundreds of other sick
thus the course of a fever
like the course of a river
could drain a polluted continent
into an ocean of health
the point of surgery therefore
is the being made to sleep
and what the heart sees when
no longer hidden behind the chest's strong bars
bathe me! I will bathe you!
apply ointments! give and receive
help with standing!
a strong broth comes up from the kitchen
and we lie back to await it