It’s Always a Brain Tumor

when I have a headache.

“Don’t be crazy,” I tell myself,

“You’re just inventing a doctor-

mind catastrophe.” But then

there’s this kid. Let’s say

he’s seventeen, special to me

because we talk music

and basketball and how to play

point guard. Two months ago

he comes in with a headache

that started after half-time.

He checks out fine

and I forget about him until

his father calls from the ICU-

Passed out at a concert,

seizure in the ambulance,

the CAT scan so clear

he could see the diagnosis

before the neurosurgeon spoke.