irony in pills

i've made a doctor's appointment
tomorrow, 9 am

my bloodpressure its high
i've been stressed lately

life, job, money,
bills, relationship

etc etc etc
same story blah blah

want to make sure that
everything is okay under the hood

i'm sure i'll have to cough
& endure the cold stethoscope

irony of ironies
i've kind of got a sorethroat

that started tonight
probably psychosymatic-hypochondriac

i can feel my heart bang-bang-banging away
when i sit like a small baby's fist thwacking me

so i'm a tad worried
36 yrsold

my father had his first major
cardiac event at 43

by my math i have seven years
that gives me time

lose twenty lbs
quit drinking

relax

write my book of poems
get a real job

maybe get married

i'm going to
the dr tmrrw

Three groundhogs pray in a field
bob and dip, bob dip
they must be hasidic jews

In Tom Wait's Voice

Mary was a welfare mother
Joseph was a kindhearted man
Jesus was born on a cold winter's day
in a cardboard shack
Under a sign
which read
"WILL WORK FOR FOOD"

In Service

We had been to the hospital that
Morning to give blood, then
Drove into the city.
There was a bottle and we
Drank it because it did not matter.
We came through the slow
Streets and stopped at crowds and
Tried to help. No one wanted
Help. We took some to
The hospital. A man sent his son with
Us while he looked for his wife.
We wrote for him where
We would take the boy.

In the afternoon they began
Shelling the city again.

The truck ran out of fuel. For a while
I was not sure where you were.
We helped put out fires.
There was never water.
We did not sleep that night, but stayed
In a shed behind some buildings.
It rained. There was no wind
Or lightning.

Eleven days later I got on a boat and
Returned to this country. To linen. To
Warm. To language. To nights.
Everyone drinks and speaks.
My time there I saw but
Was part of no real. Mornings only
Hunched in the windows of sky.
Day never seeming to come bright.
Time rose and fell as it prayed.
And what if the world does not end?