He said it doesn't look good
he said it looks bad in fact real bad
he said I counted thirty-two of them on one lung before
I quit counting them
I said I'm glad I wouldn't want to know
about any more being there than that
he said are you a religious man do you kneel down
in forest groves and let yourself ask for help
when you come to a waterfall
mist blowing against your face and arms
do you stop and ask for understanding at those moments
I said not yet but I intend to start today
he said I'm real sorry he said
I wish I had some other kind of news to give you
I said Amen and he said something else
I didn't catch and not knowing what else to do
and not wanting him to have to repeat it
and me to have to fully digest it
I just looked at him
for a minute and he looked back it was then
I jumped up and shook hands with this man who'd just given me
something no one else on earth had ever given me
I may have even thanked him habit being so strong
“What the Doctor Said” by Raymond Carver, from All of Us: Collected Poems. © Harvill Press, 1996.
This hit home. And led me down a path to discover his work - and a short bio of this writers life. Something out of a Hemingway hero’s life. I knew people like him and their power was like a three dimension being standing beside them echoing everything they said (no matter how drunkenly stupid sometimes).
Have known people who’ve had that conversation.
Thank you for giving me knowledge of him and his work. Am grateful.
You sure do know how to pick them! Another WHAM!