This poem is by Paul Hostovsky who makes his living in Boston as a sign language interpreter at the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. He lives with his wife Marlene in Medfield, Massachusetts. It is part of his collection Is That What That Is. © Future Cycle Press, 2017.

My hygienist likes to include me
in the decision-making.
“Shall we use the hand scaler
or the ultrasonic today?” she asks me.
I like the way she says “we,”
like we’re doing something intimate
and collaborative,
like building a snowman…MORE