latex and scalpels

i have wanted to
die at times but
now i dance on steeples
on bridge tightropes
on graves
i have healthcare yay hey they
say is free but it cost
me an arm and a
leg we call it the diabetes
plan but what the
hell what i need a leg
for anyway i ain't ever
gonna leave this place
i can dance on
tightropes with one leg
and wave goodbye with one
arm i can pogostick myself into
kitchenette cupboards and feed
the three-legged llama in the
neighbor's pasture
as one-eyed
geese fly disproportioned and
drop dance routines on
graves and threshing
machines
as i do my laundry in
industrial strength neutron
bomb powder
as i attend the rockettes
routine of the whipcracker
ballet and it's ok because i
have healthcare the diabetes
arm and a leg plan
what i really need my toes
for anyway
only takes one finger to point
out that when living becomes
mandated purgatory death
is an act of
faith
as the man in the pristine
sterilities sez whew thank
god the patient is refusing
treatment we don't have to
kill him in deferential
treatments in cocktail
solutions in
malapropisms in
mispronunciations
when we pronounce
dialysis upon his soul
we can leave him to
the maggots in the dumpster
alleys where resistance is
said to be futile lord of the
maggots soon to be
flies among trash
heap filth of discarded
humans and hypo
depravities

i have wanted to
die at times but
now i dance my one-legged
dance get me to the
guillotine on time

 © John Kennan 4-16-21