Clínica Hispana

I am reading Spanish posters
and wondering about stomach aches—
mine, mostly.

It has not yet crossed my mind
that there is a Spanish word
for gynecologist

or that Katherine, who is
barely old enough to drink
and has had more hands

along her uterus than I
have had missed periods,
has kicked me out

of the examining room
because she is embarrassed
and not because I might

understand what the ginecólogo
says about her linings. She is
fluent in everything here

at the clínica hispana. She speaks
every word as practiced as her
second pregnancy

and I speak only stick shift,
lane change, ¿me puedes hacer un favor?
I speak only sí, sí, six years
of textbook Spanish:

gratitude that I have no idea
what is going on.