Joe Dolce: Two Poems

Flu Fanculo

Horror coaster cough roaring

out Luna Park lungs razor shearing

throat tunnel and tracks sinus implosion

spraying a two foot perimeter explosion

as close to an epileptic twist as you get

without having a jacked-up Jerry Lewis fit

empty tissue boxes rising like M-15 mags

wastebasket brimming wet burning metal rags

how many different hacking sounds can a throat make?

I scare myself to sleep I scare others awake

stomach acid mixed in with thick gluey glug

hell throat contracting around stuck plug

always waiting for the Big Red Clot

the tissue of blood the TB flag the passing out

on bathroom floor the bloodshot eye soup

but so far just yellow goop

oh there is an infection no doubt

viral or bacterial

it’s immaterial

I regress straight back to a childhood bout

of survivor mentality the colds the clinging

the shots the sore arm the Bay Leaf tea mama’s bringing

the medicinal mend

glorious school wag excusable

was mich nicht umbringt macht mich elend

what doesn’t kill me makes me miserable.

The Kissing Disease

Where HIV virus can be retro and lethal

and said to be spread by monkey and needle

from drink-bottle sharing & lips mono jumps

kissin’ cousin of herpes and chickenpox bumps

pillows toothbrushes cups cigarettes

forks straws saliva begets

glandular fever mononucleosis

attributed to (EBV) Epstein-Barr virus

tonsils become inflamed ache in the liver

sore throat fever night sweats shiver

bane of schooldays swollen lymph glands

the most reliable home cure: just washing your hands

gargling salt water to ease a sore throat

paracetemol and bowls of chicken soup – take note

bedrest a quarantine sign on the door

no kissing or kanoodling for three months more.

Joe Dolce