The Man Cold

The last expansion
obscured by days
my usual ways
curtailed
body heeding
to constant sneezing
and sandpaper throat

Dosing lemon and honey
this altered drive
cruelly excised
marking an exclusion
wanting it back
to still interact
between broken coughs

Eyes to the page
hearing the purr
desperate to stir
this unwanted repose
does little to engage
where I so often stage
a solid salute