Lindsey Anne Baker is an editor and writer in Omaha, Neb. Her work has appeared in such journals as The Nebraska Review, Left Facing Bird, Hospital Drive and burntdistrict.

Sonnet to the Neurologist

I am your special case, the bright surprise
your teachers said might never come: to you,
a textbook picture with a twist, a new
uncharted realmI walk. You watch, your eyes
descending on my ankles, calves. You want
to be the first to see me hesitate,
to say you saw me in that weakened state
and firmly steered my body toward dtente.

Your diplomatic hands so deftly seek
the telling points: Heres where the nerves are dead,
heres where, if stretched, theyve still some life, some give
We have to wait, you say. We cant know now;
I am so rare. I trust youll take me through
the time I dont know yet, but will, to live.