From New Poems (2000), "dialysis" Summary

This is a poem about the poet's experience with the hospital, with having cancer and cancer treatment, with kidney dialysis after, and with the anger and despair of trying to heal afterwards. The first verse deals with the "thousand eyes" of the kidneys closing, refusing to work again, making the recovery so difficult. The poet is sharing a hospital suite and notices the difficulties of other patients, chronicling them dispassionately, almost in despair. She notes the blood spouting from a blind man's arm, making patterns on the floor tile, and how someone comes—not a nurse, not an orderly, just someone—and cleans it up. An old, old woman is crying for her mom. The poet notes that there is no help from anyone, even the dead.

In verse 3, the poet...