Repetition

1.

Before you left the room, you said -
The shock of death, sometimes,
feels not so sudden, Thomas.

So I followed you down the hallway
and asked,
How, then, does it feel, Peter?

You said,
More like hot oil
opening up your pores,
pushing, forcing
all the way in.

2.

Sometimes when we sit in therapy
I forget
If this is real life
or an acting school.

3.

I say out loud,
every morning,
the following words:

Gaillardia bulb
Oleander
Iris
Majolica jug

And repeat them,
forty times each
or until
my jaws go numb.