i've been here before

I remember you,
the doctor's assistant says.
a little button
on the side of her nose,
her shoulders squared.
her hair, a helmet of hair.
she's german.
I remember you, she
says again.
allergies, right?
whatever, I say.
sniffling and blowing
my nose into a fist full
of tissue.
sit, she says. I need
to take your blood pressure,
stand.
I need to weigh you.
tell me how you are.
allergies, I tell her.
wind, rain, the earth.
it all makes me sneeze.
blow into this tube she says.
let's measure your lungs.
I blow.
three times, I blow.
each less than the one
before.
she shrugs. oh well, she
says. and marks
something in a chart.
the doctor will be with
you soon. wait.
I sneeze. I wait. I've
been here before.
as in all in things now.
I've been here before.