Lobotomy

From behind
_____not the sound
__________of a woman's voice
as he had thought
_____but a kind-looking
__________black man
old and muttering
_____as a red van
__________motors by.

The doctor told
_____his mother
__________what must be done.
He wonders again why --
_____who will he be
__________after?  Will he still
be capable
_____of wonder?
__________Will he be less?

Under the glass
_____were jars --
__________canopic
labelled and full
_____of pharoah parts --
__________all but the brain,
which he'd been taught
_____the Egyptians
__________thought superfluous.

Will she love him more
_____then, when like
__________the blue bowl
on his window sill
_____his head is filled
__________only half
with marbles?  He earned
_____them by cutting grass.
__________Not now; be quiet and still.