your newest primary care doctor - Audrey Coleman

i’m not a doctor.

i’ve never been to medical school.

hell, i can barely distinguish between

the fibula and the tibia.

yet somehow,

i know how to suture your wounds

with minimal scarring.

how to evict the ache

that has settled

deep in your bones.

how to set a bone

back in its proper place

without you so much as lifting a finger.

i know every remedy

you have requested

better than my own fingerprints.

every treatment you have received

while in my care.

even the ones that sting.

that i tend to get the minimum pay

from you in return

for my hours of monitoring your health.

so maybe i am a doctor.

one who pays attention to your wounds

with such precision and care.

yet somehow is utterly oblivious to my own.

---

Audrey Coleman is a sixteen-year-old writer hailing from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. her work can be seen in the next generation, 2021-2022: the national edition, the 2022 ralph munn creative writing anthology, and the February 2023 issue of voices de la luna, among others. when she's not writing, she can be found reading, listening to music, and participating in many extracurricular activities.