A Small Operation by Jim Bourey

I lost the power of procreation.
No, I volunteered to surrender
the possibility. Heated argument came
before a decision. It was settled

when mild midday breezes moved
white lace curtains. A few days
of shallow pain. Six weeks waiting
for confirmation.

Assured, a new freedom
seemed possible.
Not burning freedom,

carelessness just mattered less. Though,
it was the Eighties, and who could
know anything for certain then.

Jim Bourey is an old poet who lives on the northern edge of the Adirondack Mountains. His chapbook “Silence, Interrupted” was published in 2015 by the Broadkill River Press. His work has appeared in Mojave River Review, Stillwater Review, Gargoyle, Broadkill Review, Rye Whiskey Review and other journals and anthologies. He was first runner up in the Faulkner-Wisdom Poetry Competition in 2012 and 2016. He can usually be found reading aloud in dimly lit rooms.