(NaPoWriMo) No. 28 sick and waiting

sick and waiting

for sicker

i know
how these things go

how illness
breaks over me

like a wave
and gets the worst

when it rolls through
my chest.

my head’s
not quite balanced,

it’s a raggedy doll’s head,
stuffed and bobbing

on the aching piling
that is my neck.

i’m alert
for wheezes

between bowls
of soup vitamins echinacea

salt water sprays
and gargles,

catching up
with the soaps

where such mundane
illness is the least

of worries.

--Zann Carter 04.28.09