with age comes
the terrible
everyday news
the acquaintance
whose casual shaving wound
reveals
incurable leukemia
the grapefruit-sized
rage of cancer
stalking near the heart
of a loved one
the chemotherapy
that nearly always
kills
the smallest cold sore
seems an omen
of death
our lives so tightly strung--––
you never know
when the next string is ready
to snap.