Goldfish Ambulance II

The doctors shake their heads,
Faces very grave.
"The patient's dried up
Like a mummy frog inside,"
They say, "She needs
Emergency infusions, stat!"

An ambulance rushes up.
Out jump special EMTs.
They lay the patient on
The gleaming metal stretcher.

Gently, they open the back doors.
Inside the ambulance is filled
With blue-green water.
It sloshes to some subtle tide.

Beneath the surface of the water glide
Dimply seen shapes that
Glimmer golden-orange:
Gold fish swimming in the pool.

The desiccated patient
Slides beneath the surface
Without a ripple or errant bubble.
The fish nibble softly all around.

One doctor leans in
With an eyedropper.
One, two, three drops
Administered beneath the patient's tongue.

"Tincture of belladona,"
The doctor dolefully sighs.
Changing places, reaching in,
Another doctor rubs the patient's forehead.

"Powdered mandrake root in goose grease."
He wipes his hand abstractedly
On his pocket handkerchief,
And walks to the other side.

The third doctor pushes
Tiny candles into the patient's ears.
As she lights them with a match
A murmuring chant is heard.

"Poetry candles!" she assures
Her wondering colleagues.

Aug. 19, 2012
Betsy McKenzie

Goldfish image courtesy of http://hearingelmo.wordpress.com/2008/07/14/a-number-of-firsts/
Hearing Elmo is a blog about living with hearing loss and invisible disability.