Radiology

Radiology

We chatted in the half-light.

The screen flickering

Like an old tv

From the fifties

Misty gunsmoke drifting across

From the OK Corral

But without Wyatt Earp

Or the man who shot

Liberty Valence.

She moved the transducer

Across my chest

Tapping the keyboard

The screen lit up

Indigo and red

Lines drawn like vectors

Lines of incidence

And reflection

Tracing the width of arteries

The opening of valves

We huddled together

Like expectant parents

I expected to see little

Baby fingers

Floating in the round

As we travelled through New Zealand

And across to Scotland

For a wedding.

She was looking forward

To the trip

She didn’t look old enough

To have a son of marriageable age.

She thought I was younger

Than my years

We were full of compliments.

She couldn’t tell me I was

In fine fettle

As she was not a doctor

I should have said that I was

But if she thought I was still working

And not retired

I reckon my heart must

Be good enough

To keep the beat

For another year or two

At least.