The Histories

The hollow at the base of the throat

- the supersternal notch -

is just large enough to hold

the tip of a finger, 

nestled like a bird's egg

in a nest.

It is here that the old physicians

used to check the pulse,

laying one finger

     gently

where the body meets the neck

at the root of the throat

where words climb

     upward to be heard,

to feel against their own delicate skin

the low thrum

of the internal sea.

Waves at low tide crawl up a beach

and the sound is like a mother

     shushing a baby to sleep,

or a womb.