“Other than your parents dying,

is there anything else bothering you?”

that’s what he said,

the man in the white coat

the one who had all the answers.

in his hands, he assured me i would be safe-

taken care of.

my rawness didn’t frighten him

just perplexed his well-schooled,

highly medica-lized agenda.

i mused on his question:

hmmm… other than the people

who conceived, birthed and raised me

leaving this earth– gee

let me think about that

i will ponder the battering of my guts

quickly

as i know you have a busy schedule

and it’s getting tighter

by the minute-

Okay- yeah! here’s one–

our planet’s growing disconnection

from each other

our cell phone- texting banality

of lol and RU- O.K.A.Y.

the constant overstimulation

of a world

that needs love so badly

it wails in anguished cries

hold me

hold me

hold me.

Maybe we are all orphans

longing to sit on our mommies and daddy’s laps,

and feel once again

(if we ever did)

the great comfort and stability of

belonging.

even you doctor…

do you need like the rest of us

soothing in your raw and fragile moments?

do you need to hear

everything’s going to be all right?

Maybe I should hold you…

maybe I should be the one to rock and comfort

you

maybe then you would release yourself from that uniform of white

and look out into the spacious unknown

and take in that long breath of remembrance-

from the days when you didn’t know

when eyeing the world was fresh and lovely and new

when you woke up one day and lost yourself in

wonder.