Humerus

Hierarchies – put three of anything together and one will emerge
surgeons, all elite, but a doctor friend said
orthopaedic surgeons see themselves as the fighter pilots of medicine.
Top Gun
top dog
top ego.

He was reputed to be the best –
the best orthopod in the city –
the nation’s largest, so ipso facto, the country.
Many leading sportsmen consulted him.
I was surprised to be sent to him.

He was impeccably dressed, lean and austere
both physique and word.
He spoke little saying he been contacted by letter
by my GP.
He said to wait two years
the problem still existed to go back.
It did. And I didn’t. I didn’t want to.

The second opinion orthopod looked like a rugby player
or a boxer –
rather like the middle-aged Ernest Hemingway,
burly, bearded and
a nose that had been straightened,
but still seemed bent.. I told him my history –
and the first surgeon
his eyes twinkled slightly
and he said,
“ I believe the young surgeons call him the godfather.”