USA

acumming@bcc.edu

http://www.lr.k12.nj.us/ETTC/

This Breast Surgeon
For E.J.M.

They look at the films together.
Oh, I don’t like this. I don’t like this one bit, he says.
This breast surgeon points to her x-ray
Traces lazy circles with his fingertips
Then reaches for a small white writing pad
With the name of a pharmaceutical company
Printed across the top and starts drawing breasts.
He quickly creates a female torso
With just one unbroken line from his black felt tip marker.
A moment later a straight shorter line turns into an arm;
A curved half circle becomes a breast.
Another much smaller circle appears
Suddenly there’s a nipple; then two: a matched set.
In a stupor of anxiety, she silently watches him sketch,
Thinks about Picasso; drawings so evocative
With one simple, continuous line.
And as she watches, a soothing mantra
Loops through her mind:
This man has sketched millions of breasts.
He is good at drawing breasts.
He is good at cutting breasts.
He knows breasts.
This breast surgeon.

© Copyright, Alysa Cummings.
All Rights Reserved. Printed By Permission.