Mary Krane Derr

SPECIAL EDUCATION

From a slump against his wheelchair,
Felix flash forwards
the ponderous wobble of his head
straightlong into
the white, rain-speckled
cluster of budding lilacs:
ever ahead of us
pitiable, unfortunate folk
with the severely and profoundly
developmentally delayed noses.

* * *

UMPTEENTH PUNCTURE

Up close
my veins
are blue lines of passage
toughened up and squiggly
as the muscles brawling down
a sailor's crooked arm.

My husband jokes
each vein should be granted
its own port-of-call tattoo.

The IV tubing vibrates
with our laughter
but I tell him,
that's enough needle versus skin
for now, and anyway, remember
one reason I get stuck so much
is that my veins are so small

--but I do love your theory
that the med students use them
to compete in a covert game
of Vampire Bingo.

Mary Krane Derr is a poet, freelance writer, and musician. Her poetry has been nominated for the Best of the Net Award, Best American Poetry, and Best Spiritual Writing. She read her work at India's 2011 Kritya International Poetry Festival and the 1999 Parliament of the World's Religions in Cape Town, South Africa.. "Special Education" is from her book in progress, Felix: Scrapbook for a Well-Called Life. Her work can be seen on her website at http://marykranederr.wordpress.com.