Little Earthquakes

The little earthquakes
Preface the explosion
That was the hospital
With the Purell dispensers, and blue liquid
Trying to remove the unremovable dirt –
That is caked in the rooms and in me

As the hair falls out and the colors bleed
And the tightrope keeping her alive becomes less taught
The nurses’ rickety voice does not reassure
And the multitudes of red blood cells and my pain dilate

Then the earthquakes stop
And she falls off the tightrope, and the beeping stops, and the machines quiet
And there is one less person in the room and one less person in me