(to Brenda Anna)

the doc lulled me then

twist-snapped my head. a

ver

teb

ral

ar

pejh

jhee

oh!

Afterword: this faux haiku is based on a doctor’s visit I’d had over twenty years ago, a first visit with a doctor in my PPO network. I had reported neck problems of pain and severely limited range of motion. He had me lie face- up on the examining table and positioned himself behind my head, gently rocking my head as if it were a bowling ball, saying a few lulling words in a monotonous voice, and just as I became 100% relaxed he quick-as-lightning twisted my head at least 75 degrees. My upper vertebrae crepitated big time, both audibly and tactilely. Flash forward to about an hour ago, and the sudden remembrance of that event, and I wondering if I could synopsize it in seventeen syllables with the last two words being “vertebral arpeggio.” That musing turned into what you have just read.