Chela C.

THE INFUSION SUITE

The infusion suite is a place of ration
Of scarcity, of small talk
I recite, again, my date of birth 
I say and spell my name

He asks next, “Are you pregnant?”
As if that path weren’t barred     
By the masses I long sat through 
And the one the surgeons removed 

Hours pass
I sit alone
Beneath fluorescent lights 
And the tick of an analog clock       

There are no more aluminum cans
The ones that are green
Somehow labeled in French
To remind me I am vagrant
Swept by the fiercest of winds
And the toxins to which I’m now tethered

When Jonas returns to his shift
He hands me a bottle, still cold
A salve, a greeting
From beyond these walls
Where life still abounds, as within

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Chela C. is an educator and artist, for whom photography has long been a main source of expression. During the pandemic, street photography became a form of quiet meditation for her on her long walks around Manhattan. When Chela became disabled by Long Covid in 2022, she began writing poetry as a new way to document experiences and emotions. As a photographer and writer, she is attuned to detail, cadence, and finding beauty in both darkness and light.