Affliction
Laura Madeline Wiseman
In bed swaddled in wool,
enveloped in the choke scent
of privy. Fever lifts and falls
as the curtains let in cobbles,
men, horses, the rash of the city.
Inside the mouth swollen bumps
clumsy the tongue. A mute book.
Sweat coats all, whispers, Allie,
murmurs as water touches lips.
Breathe. Cough. Wipe limbs,
brow. Eyes blinded by light.
See only pink, hear tap tap
as words pacing the floor.
Speechless, useless, the mind ails,
half inside a cadence, half inside
a one-room schoolhouse. Back
to the coal stove. One hand
grips the chalk, the other stills
the slate against the desk.
Her full name scrawled
and, We must move the body.