JAKE'S DOCTOR

Capital
(Went to See the Doctor)

$150
the price of admission
to see the good Dr. R
just on the other side
of that thin wall

I had $80 in my pocket
to cover the day's half-hour

but, No, she said
we need the 150,
that's the deductible

I said, I'll pay it off
a little at a time
say, $25 a month
you can add a finance charge

"I'll have to ask 'Her,'" she said
and she walked away behind a wall
where the omniscient 'Her'
could not be seen or heard

She came back with "No."
so 'Her' had declared
(though I never heard a word)
it was 150 today, right now,
or I'd not see the doctor

That impenetrable wall
That thin thread of hope

I offered every penny
in my bank account
all $120 of it

No, again, said Invisible 'Her'
and that was the end of it

I guess without cash up front
you might as well be dead

Oh, that'll cost you, too
The undertaker said


Jake Berry 2.25.05