Being sick knocks the wind out of me.
It doesn't have to be
anything terminal,
even a simple cold
is enough to make my
head spin and my body
sluggish. Jack London
wrote so many words a day,
even if we was very sick.
I wonder if his sick words
were as good as his healthy words.
I have a friend who is
a jazz singer. He cut a record
when he was losing his voice
which added
a certain originality
to his efforts.
My high school art teacher
had Parkinson's disease
and grooved over the shaky lines
he could make
when his medicine
was running out.
Did any of these tactics
make them feel any better?
Does my thinking about them make my head
feel any better? Do they heroes divert
for a few moments
how cruddy I feel when I'm sick?
