Of Factual Interest
By Nancy Lee
Parisians prescribe ice baths for uncertainty.
Barometric pressure is the leading cause
of tears. Each time a doctor rubs her nose,
a bundle of bad news is born. Amniotic fluid
rises with the stock market. The butcher
uses a sharper knife for sinew than for bone.
Snails without their shells die of dread
before exposure. Miscarriage on Friday
means you still host Sunday brunch.
Fish can live on land if they'd just put
their minds to it. To morcellate your uterus
the surgeon will use a hand blender.
A seed germinates in a songbird's mouth
only if the bird stops singing.
Copyright Credit: Nancy Lee, "Of Factual Interest" from What Hurts Going Down. Copyright © 2020 by Nancy Lee. Reprinted by permission of McClelland & Stewart, Ltd., a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. All rights reserved.
Source: What Hurts Going Down (McClelland & Stewart, Ltd., 2020)