Ultrasound
The technician turns the light off
above the couch.
I float in the cool, underwater glow
from beyond the mottled, blue curtain,
and the quiet whoosh of the ventilation
is the sound of waves rolling above my head.
She presses the gel-covered probe
against my chest:
the slippery-fingered caress of a mermaid.
Copyright 2023 by Jenny Shepherd
Jenny Shepherd is a British poet, based in London. She has been writing poetry since her teens, although she had a 20-year hiatus from her late twenties. Her father introduced her to haiku, when she was about 15, and it remains her favourite verse form. She won a competition for young poets when she was 17, and up till a few years ago, she felt it’d been downhill since then. However, since joining The Daily Haiku Facebook group in 2020, she has had various Japanese verse form poems published in national and international journals
30 for 30 is sponsored by Potomac Review
I can relate! A bunch of years back (lucky me for being here!) I was dealing with breast cancer.. and wrote some poems… and now I look back and them.
So sorry you had to go through such a difficult time Joan, but glad you obviously overcame it… I, too, have found writing poetry, especially haiku, has always helped me, during times of trauma…
Best to both of you. Thank you for your poems. Writing helps as you say, Jenny, in times of trauma. I know this too.
Thank you for supportive comment, Mary Jo. Sorry to hear you, too, have suffered a trauma of some sort, but glad you have also found solace in poetry.