The geneticist pens his conclusion
on “clonal residual cells”,
though with “undetermined significance,”
and hurries for publication deadline,
when no doubt there will be colleague accolades
and credit for a feather in his cap,
not seeing from his windowless room
what the lone curious patient one day spots
while reading his study from her patio,
she seeking answers
whether her left-over diseased cells
will let her survive some more,
what flies by on this pewter-sky
day, the brown feathered pelican
come inland for warmth,
rare sighting she can jot down
in her daily book of surprises,
the old bird from last winter
who made it another year.