cold

She caught a cold,

became a cancer.

Vitamin C 

was not the answer.

She didn't know.

She thought: a cold.

You wait it out,

you don't grow old.

She caught a cold,

a little sniff

(it was always cancer,

poor little stiff).

It comes upon you

from underneath,

gets a taste for you,

then bares its teeth.

It eats you up.

It scares you

down to the ground.

It rests awhile,

it breathes and

leans back to digest.

And then

it eats you alive.

She caught a cold,

She sipped a cold remedy,

But her boat was out

on a far bigger sea.