The doctor looks at the x-ray
of my little toe and notices
a dip in his
Money Market fund.
He recommends surgery.
The authorization request
is forwarded to the insurance
company examiner who'd
been warned by management
about being too liberal with
approvals.
She reviews the doctor’s
diagnosis, carefully
considering her job security.
After reading the denial
my wife
asks why we pay so much
for insurance if we can’t
use it.
And why doctors go
to medical school to get
all the knowledge
when the insurance
companies
have all the power.
And why do I
go around without shoes
all the time
because that’s what caused
the bump on my toe?
I go for a ride to blow off
steam and my car breaks down.
Bending over the engine,
the mechanic
glances at my expensive shoes
and I say,
Yeah, I know, this is going to be a big job.
Michael Mark is the author of Visiting Her in Queens is More Enlightening than a Month in a Monastery in Tibet, awarded the 2022 Rattle Chapbook Prize. Poems appear in Alaska Quarterly Review, Copper Nickel, New Ohio Review, Passages North, Ploughshares, 32 Poems, The Sun, The Best New Poets 2024.
