For T.M.S,. M.D.
I
I never knew an epididymis
Was there—floating high. Insulted scrotum
(Formerly agent of intense hot bliss),
Harbors, now, one right-side lump—grim totem.
My first thought was my kishkes falling through.
A wise surgeon doubted that—more likely
An epididymis! And that may be—
Yet definitions note there should be two!
He’ll poke about a bit, and then we’ll see.
(7/24/08)
II
“It’s not an epididymis at all,”
He murmured, when the poking part was done.
“The rupture fix, the mesh wall we installed,
Is firm, in place, and tighter than a nun.
That lump is not your kishkes, falling through—
It’s a taut seroma or lymphocele,
Seepage from insulted cells—no big deal;
No cause to kiss your battered life adieu—
Some lumps do not sound cancer’s death knell peal.”
(7/26/08)