Being Examined

She put it on my chest without a word.

That cold metal circle against my skin.

My breath caught before I'd even heard

what her listening might let her in.

The body knows when it's being read,

when someone's listening at your core,

when you're exposed and nearly dead

with nowhere left to hide or more.

She moved it slow. Still cold.

Still shocking me each time.

She was looking where she's told

to look—inside my line.

When she took it off,

the warmth came back so slow.

But I could still feel that cold,

that metal, that probe,

that moment when she knew

what was underneath below.