Dereliction by Jim Kangas

When the blood test came back

my doc sent me a copy.

It said I had pronounced

poikilocytocis (misshapen red

blood cells) which can have

any number of causes, and he

scrawled at the bottom

“mild anemia, liver enzymes

elevated, need to drink plenty

of fluids, stop alcohol 

immedately.” What was I

to make of that? Well, I’ve cut 

down on the alcohol, but still 

have a bourbon and coke most 

nights, or a gin and tonic. Hell, 

I’m 78, and if I go a little sooner 

rather than later, so what? With 

so many physical failings, I think 

maybe the sooner the better. 

Less agony to go through 

would be a great blessing, 

don’t you reckon?

Jim Kangas is a retired librarian and musician living in Flint, Michigan. His poems have appeared in Atlanta Review, Decadent Review, Main Street Rag, The Penn Review, Unbroken, et al. His chapbook, Breath of Eden (Sibling Rivalry Press), was published in 2019.