Any body
can be
interesting
when told —

a list of symptoms
come to life
with a mind
of their own.

Potential horror
or bliss
keeps us guessing.

Empathetic,
Dr. Williams
was a good listener.

Found his rhythm
following the thread of
what seems to be the trouble?
along with his patients.

Trying to get hold of it —

sometimes reaching both
a diagnosis
and a poem.

Elaine Equi’s latest book is The Intangibles from Coffee House Press. A new collection, Out of the Blank, is forthcoming in 2025. Her poems have appeared in the American Poetry Review, Brooklyn Rail, Big Other, Plume, New American Writing, and many other journals. In 2023 she was guest editor of the annual anthology Best American Poetry.