Shiny, silver locks
cold and clinical
clasp around thin ankles,
attached to callused feet
with yellow toenails
“Don’t look them up.
It will affect your care.”
the senior residents say
A patient rarely
is shackled to a bed
although always watched over
by guards, nurses, physicians
watching withering old men
struggling to make even an ounce
of yellow urine.
Who reserves the dignity
of a digital rectal exam
to a crowd of strangers?
