Cardiotocography

In triage
your heart rate
is measured:
 
clop clop
of a small horse
in an unbroken field.
 
The shhh of wind
is your body
turning, low
 
in the belly
and transverse
facing away from light.
 
We are like this
for an hour,
abdomen
 
slick with gel,
heartbeat a slow
long gallop,
 
the monitor arcuated—
white chalky
cliffs, tapers
of bared trees
holding
up the sky.