Contributor: Bradley Mason Hamlin

- -
Sick again
ill from mutant virus
sent out by control central
so we’ll rush in and get our
flu shots
so they can inject another
mind control chip
or tracker
I’d rather tough it out
but the colds seem
to hit harder
than the old days
no lying in bed
reading comic books
head hurts too much
and no caffeine or alcohol
for days
so memories
flood back
haunting
the faces, places
of yesterday
you think you drink them
away
but they just turn into
ghosts
and you feel nostalgic
for those
disappearing moments
what did I say back then?
what did I do?
why did I do that?
what if I had done it
differently?
the bottle won’t wash away
the specters
that surround you
I know that
and you know it too
spirits invoke spirits
to the fiesta
so you’re no stranger
to talking with the dead
but now
when the banshee winds howl
outside your window
you’re going to have face
the phantoms
with nothing more
than cold medicine.


- - -