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Premonition in the Mental Hospital

The pain is so deep.
You can't even touch it.
"The numbness, the numbness, Rochelle."
She used to call out to me
From her tomb of a bed.

I could not see it.
Her outstretched leg
Looked unremarkable.
"The numbness, the numbness," she said.
"Look --"

I saw nothing of the rigor mortis.
I couldn't imagine feeling nothing.
It made no sense.
If her leg were truly numb
Why did it trouble her so?

Why did she tremble
With the trepidation
Of a lost lamb
Glimpsing the shadow of the wolf
Up ahead?

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