The day before the mobile
X-ray van comes to our school,
the word that circulates is
Drink a full glass of milk
in the morning, to make sure
the pictures taken of our lungs
are clear--- Meaning white, un-
blemished, a veil of snow fallen
over the thin, serrated branches
of upside down trees inside
the cage of our ribs. How amazing
it is, what we look for inside
the clasped silences of our bodies:
how they tell us what to do
as we tap on the dome to watch
its weathers materialize.