The Real Reason Simon and Garfunkel Broke Up

The Sound of Sinus

hello mucous my old phlegm,

it’s time to cough you up again

because the crud softly creeping

infected me while i was sleeping

and the headache that was planted in my brain

still remains, it’s

the sound of sinus.

through the night i cannot sleep

kleenex in a growing heap,

i flick on the bedside lamp,

i didn’t get this from the cold and damp,

but my eyes are stabbed by

the rays from a 60 watt light–

this ain’t right.–

i hope it’s not bronchitis.

nyquil, asprin, tylenol

by 2 a.m. i’ve tried them all.

forget work tomorrow i will call in,

take a break from that loony bin,

but i know they’ll schedule me for another day,

they make you pay.

now i feel like violence.

i wish i had a thicker coat,

wore a hat or …oh my throat.

how i ache from head to toe, the greenish gunk from my nose,

and the words of the doctor were written on the prescription pad

i thought i had, i know, my bad…

guy i knew got meningitis.

i might have prevented what i caught,

had i gotten my flu shot.

first a fever then here come the chills,

you’d think they’d come up with some kind of pill.

its virus vs man, i’ll do what i can to protect me,

from asian type b,

more vitamin c.

still sniffling,

it’s the sound

of sinus.

john van becay

The Sound of Sinus was originally published in the Durango Telegraph, March 7, 2019