dirty work

in the bowed timbers of my ribcage,
I have sorted-out my feelings into piles-

those by the lungs are emotions
visible to everyone.
I breathe them out daily, in coloured puffs.

but those over there? Oh, we don't talk
about them. for they concern you,
and you simply make me uncomfortable.

Friday Night/Saturday Morning

They told her to count her blessings, said
it would help her put things in perspective.
So she counted 1. I am alive. 2. I am well.
3. I don't have a horribly disfiguring disease.
4. I don't suffer from bladder weakness. 5. I have
somewhere to live. 6. I rarely have to bleach my
facial hair. 7. There's some quite good TV on
at the moment. 8. I'll be dead before the planet
dies.

Strangely, when she proudly showed them
the list she had compiled, their faces
snapped sideways and their mouths pulled
at the edges of their skin like drawstrings.