contagious

carefully, the girl with the pink eye,
stares up into the bathroom light
and squeezes the prescription bottle
of medicine into her eyes. she blinks
and blinks as if crying. then she
stares into the mirror to see if it's
any better than before. she marks
her calendar with a big x, then makes
herself a cup of tea. I wonder, she
thinks, if wait he'll until
I'm no longer contagious,
to go out with me.