After the New Drug
by Maggie Rue Hess
When he starts taking a medicine
to treat the symptoms of the symptoms,
I learn how to hurt him
the way my mom learned how
to remedy problems with pain
as a physical therapist.
He designates Sunday afternoons
to this tryst, chooses the flesh
where I point the needle.
A soft spot is a safe cushion:
once to the side of his belly button,
every time after alternating thighs.
Walled in a plastic tube, the prick
waits for me to push
from the top; two clicks signal
contact and conclusion. On his skin,
a maroon dot we soon lose sight of.
It isn’t that the shots actually hurt –
built for easy application, they can’t
be more than a pinch. This
is merely practice. (I tell myself)
This has to be the easy part
before we have to accept
how much worse
it can get.
Maggie Rue Hess (she/her) is a PhD student living in Knoxville, Tennessee, with her partner and their crusty white dog. Her work has appeared in Rattle, Connecticut River Review, SWWIM, and other publications; her debut chapbook, The Bones That Map Us, was published by Belle Point Press in 2024. She likes to share baked goods with friends and can be found on Instagram.
