The doctor wraps the nylon sleeve

The doctor wraps the nylon sleeve

and pumps the rubber ball.

The velcro screams like a dry, white throat

in the middle of the hall.

It’s a violent sound, that ripping apart,

a thousand plastic hooks

clogged with the gray and the dusty lint

found in the corners and nooks.

It holds the pressure against the vein

until the pulse is a stuttering thud.

Then it tears away with a jagged noise

and lets go of the racing blood.