ALL ACTION IS USELESS

Six times
in half as many hours
she has run
to the bathroom.

Her small frame
tightening,
her description:
the backbone bending up
through the heart
and lungs.

In twenty‑to‑thirty
minute intervals,
making rest
impossible.

We abandon tea
for five doses
of patent medicine.

All action is useless.
The vomiting stops
when it is ready.