Description: A short, free-verse piece
Rating: PG

***
Sitting in his favorite chair
Smoking a cigarillo
And then bam

Within hours, his chest is a gaping cavity of activity
Doctors and technicians
Poking,
Prodding,
Cutting,
Breaking,
Tearing,
Sucking,
Rubbing,
Massaging,
Sewing

Borrowing parts from the leg
To mend the chest
Jesus, we’re interchangeable

And he,
Swimming into and out of consciousness
Feels a draft
And an old familiar craving
For a cigarillo