Strung Up By A String Poem by Oscar Mireles

the only time a man
held my private package
I was resting back
on the examination table
at the Family Health Plan southside clinic

they had already given me a sedative
and asked if I would bring someone to drive me home
and although I felt as if I was drunk
I was getting ready for my first vasectomy

and the main thing I remember
is that the doctor pulled out a 12 inch piece of string
and tied up my two testicles
as if they were a steer roped
and tied up with its' legs in the air

and for the life of me
I don't know why he used the string
or isn't there a vasectomy clamp
or was the string a symbol
of me hanging up
my parenting
ability?