It used to be that I could keep my health
on a shelf, like a hat or a book,
and only to take it down to show off:
impress a girl, or a college scout
But such is no longer true.
Those days are long
past.
Now I can’t hurry past any doctor’s
office without having to either
prove my health or
increase their wealth.
I take shots for everything:
flu, pneumonia, allergies, RSV, and Covid, too.
I give samples of pee, blood, and seemingly all my
free time is spent in waiting on them
as they want yet more time and pieces
of me to biopsy, study, and determine how infirm
I may one day
be.
Oh, for the days when dad made applesauce from red delicious
apples plucked from the tree just outside my bedroom window.
The very tree I often climbed to get closer to the stars
Ah, but now I am reduced to staring out windows,
or searching every store for Gaia’s golden apples that might yet
perfect my health or at least
keep doctors away for just one more
day.
