On the theme of Your Very Flesh
Cancer
Will creep upon you while you are sleeping
Will chew off a leg, turn your lungs to stone
Will keep you from eating while it liquefies you
And none of the vegetables, fruits, vitamins
Exercise, meditation, yoga, red wine, grains
Fish oil, flaxseed oil, sex, laughter, chemicals
Radiation, surgery, prayer, wishes or crying
Will keep you from strangulating lonely death
The temple of your body, however sturdy
However broad the timbers, however strong
The flagstone floor, however storm proof
However wonderful and safe your good life
You will succumb to the army in the horse
That will set up shop while you are laughing
That will send out tendrils, roots and tunnels
That will dissolve the walls of your perfect home
All of this will happen until a drop of blood
Nagging cough, chronic back pain, headache
Nauseating puke without the party to blame
A sudden cessation of normal bodily function
Suggests a ghost in your machine, a glitch
In the software of your very precious body
And leads you to the realization that you are
Not at all what you ever thought you were
Author Biography
Brad Garber has published poetry in Cream City Review, Alchemy, Fireweed, “gape seed” (an anthology published by Uphook Press), and others. He was a 2013 Pushcart Prize nominee for his poem, “Where We May Be Found.” His essays have been published in Brainstorm NW, Naturally magazine and N, The Magazine of Naturist Living. He has also published erotica in Oysters & Chocolate, Clean Sheets and MindFuckFiction.