by Mari
| The phlegm crawls up the throat | |
| and spews into ears | |
| never ending | |
| the work day not punctuated by the sound | |
| but defined by it | |
| A cough too cruel for a lady |
| the lung health of the men was investigated |
| who would suspect someone rounder |
| and more delicate? |
| She brought the machine |
| the coughing faded |
| over months |
| and was replaced instead |
| by the wheeze of the device |
| And then today |
| quiet |
| And again today |
| She's gone |
| not better, but absent |
| The coughing lady ceases. |
