the nurse practitioner
who comes up to the the clinic
once a month
always mentions that my cervix
is very cooperative.
and in spite of my knees spread
and my feet in the stirrups,
i can’t help but laugh

and say thank you.
the Thomas Kinkade print
tacked up to the stained ceiling
gets me giggling to begin with.
i always wonder if she keeps
that English garden rolled up
in an instrument bag somewhere.
right next to the speculum.
a soothing necessity of male composition
for women whose privatest parts
want to be difficult.