61 M, Systolic Click, BAV

   by Joseph Gascho

Whoever sent you for this test

Was smart to think the sound she heard

Was from a malformed valve:

Two cusps instead of three.

She’ll tell you when you see her next

About what lies ahead:

In fifteen years or so,                                                  

An artificial valve.

But will she tell you that the pipe

Beyond the valve

Could crack at any time?

She will not know just what you want to know.

Some facts I wish I didn’t know, like you.

My valve’s bicuspid too.

 Wild Onions, 2009, p. 13 (First Prize)