Lightness

Issue 7

When the cardiologist
Turns his labcoated back
To review my test results
Glowing on his laptop,
I begin to pick the white
Doghairs from my black shirt
I had admired
In the waiting room.
High blood pressure…
High cholesterol…
Arterial plaque…
Script for Lipitor…
No red meat…
No butter…
Stand to lose a few pounds…
No cream in my morning coffee…
No stops at Zerilli’s Bakery
For eclairs and cinnamon rolls….
When he turns to face me,
I smell bacon and eggs
But my head is nodding,
My eyes focused on
The coat of doghairs
Clinging to my shirt,
My chubby fingers still pincing,
Hoping the good doctor mistakes
My smirk for a repentant frown,
Knowing damn well I will never
Pick all of them off.

---

JOHN JEFFIRE
was named Grand PrIze Winner in the Mount Arrowsmith Novel Competition and in 2007 it won a Gold Medal for Regional Fiction in the Independent Publishing Awards. His first book of poetry, “Stone + Fist + Brick + Bone,” was nominated for a Michigan Notable Book Award in 2009. In 2022, his novel River Rouge won the 2022 American Writing Awards for Legacy Fiction.  For more on the author and his work, visit writeondetroit.com.

---