Cough?

85. 14 September 2021

I have a cough. Annoying and dry

With a sort of wheeze in it.

Oh God, is it covid?

No, say my voices, just a cough,

Not even another coronavirus.

A little bit of a cough.

I don’t mind isolating,

Sitting at home and reading -

BUT OH GOD I DON’T WANT TO DO A TEST!

I hate doing tests.

I hate putting swabs down my throat

Because I always retch

And vomit or nearly

And feel sick and

Tears and snot flood down my face

And it’s disgusting.

*

All over the country,

People are putting swabs

Down their throat

And up their nose

And going “Haggh! Arugggh!

Eeurgh! Ach! Bleurgh!”

And hating it.

The new song of the people.

***

PS. The test was negative.

Coffee?

Where my more recent poems are — Substack