Photo by Allison Saeng
PYO Means Pick Your Own
Beth Kanell
The diagnosis fell like a tree limb
cracked off, slapped down, snapped by hurricane-
force winds–
Late last summer the tree surgeon said we’ll tip
the shape forward, apples will land–
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, did I
swallow the wrong thing when pregnant?
Wrong kind of mother before the birth, or after,
nature or nurture but still.
That’s the thing about genetic conditions, you don’t
find out until–
Some doctors carry blame as close as a stethoscope
press it against your heart (my heart)
There is no cure, there is only treatment and you
can’t afford the best kind
–can you?
Initials scattered, manic, on the pages: DSM, PTSD,
CBT, an absence of ECT (shock therapy)
All natural, no pesticides, are you sure it was
organic, no GMO, test your breast
milk to determine
Dairy free, gluten free, cut out sugars, force a
balance
Apples never breed true from seed
The Macintosh, the honey crisp, the hard green
rigid lines, orchard plans–
You have to tend the weeping break, the branch,
the wound; the sprouts like madness
clustered around the trunk.
Beth Kanell
The diagnosis fell like a tree limb
cracked off, slapped down, snapped by hurricane-
force winds–
Late last summer the tree surgeon said we’ll tip
the shape forward, apples will land–
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, did I
swallow the wrong thing when pregnant?
Wrong kind of mother before the birth, or after,
nature or nurture but still.
That’s the thing about genetic conditions, you don’t
find out until–
Some doctors carry blame as close as a stethoscope
press it against your heart (my heart)
There is no cure, there is only treatment and you
can’t afford the best kind
–can you?
Initials scattered, manic, on the pages: DSM, PTSD,
CBT, an absence of ECT (shock therapy)
All natural, no pesticides, are you sure it was
organic, no GMO, test your breast
milk to determine
Dairy free, gluten free, cut out sugars, force a
balance
Apples never breed true from seed
The Macintosh, the honey crisp, the hard green
rigid lines, orchard plans–
You have to tend the weeping break, the branch,
the wound; the sprouts like madness
clustered around the trunk.