Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “Modern Medicine” by Hannah Siden.

---

Modern Medicine

By Hannah Siden

It’s as simple as blood

& bone. Even now,

even so many years on,

in the 21^st century.

They offer patches:

blood into needle

into spine. A puncture

to repair a puncture.

They can’t be sure

of hitting the right spot.

Expect complications.

Imaging is not always

reliable. Even now,

even so many years

on. Like kids doing

arts & crafts, we glue

ourselves back together.

I am Raggedy Ann

on the steel table, on

too much Xanax. The

doctor tells me I’m doing

great & I believe that

he’s really trying. It’s

a science & yet entirely

up to chance. After

all, it’s left to my body

to hold the patches

or reject them. For weeks

I barely breathe. Then

the headache returns.

Blood spreads against

dura which shifts

against bone. The leaks

open & re-open. I shatter

in my disbelief. Even

now, even so. Even so.

---

Copyright © Hannah Siden

Hannah is a writer and filmmaker living on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations (Vancouver, BC). Her poetry has been published in PRISM International, Canthius, Room Magazine, Metatron Press and elsewhere. She can be found at https://www.hannahsiden.com.

---

Subscribe to Poetry Pause, or support Poetry Pause with a donation today!

---