The Assurance

I think of the black rhino, struckwith a dart gun inexplicably from the sky,with an opioid more than a thousand timesstronger than what they've given me,I slip quietly into my own beckoning void,remembering the urgent and delicateeffort to blindfold her, tipped to her side,how they wrapped her gray ankles, drew bloodto monitor stress, like the way I'm cabledto the steady beep of hospital machines,you may think the most memorable partwas the unnatural marvel of this massive girl danglingupside down, curved horn like a crescentperilously pointed downward, her terrestrial bodyin flight along mountain peaks hiddenbefore the dreamy haze of sunlight, but no,my favorite part was all the palms — beforeshe was airlifted — on the rough folds of her faceand nape, to comfort her, to ease her unconsentedconfusion that gave to a clumsy trance,like the black rhino, I had no choicebut to risk my survival for more of it,no choice but to agree to extend my lifeand its pleats of anguish, the anesthesiologistcoos, tells me she's proud of my slow and deep breaths,so unlike the voice earlier with routine seriousness:do you have any allergies? are you taking any medication?No and yes, and now it is gloved handson my numbed armor, euphonious wordsof consolation that sing to my chemical inabilityto encapsulate sorrow, such that before I'm intubated,I believe her, while this lasts, I believe the assurancefor once, when she whispers the truth, honey,you won't feel a thing