"DECLINE"
by Kurt Nimmo

In the clinic 
after the KY Jelly and 
the examination 
a young doctor tells me 
he wants to take 
some urine and blood 
for a prostrate 
cancer test. I sit there 
in the sterile room 
and look at the 
side of his head. He writes 
a prescription and then 
sends in a nurse 
to take the blood and
the urine. Outside 
in the street 
rain comes down 
with cold gray persistence. 
I fit in traffic 
with my potential secret 
and prescription slip
for stool softener and 
antibiotic. 
On the bumper 
of a car before me 
is a message--
HOW'S MY DRIVING? 
CALL 1-800-EAT-SHIT. 
I'm no longer 
provoked by the 
crude stupidities of 
my fellow citizens. 
I think of 
microscopes, 
mutant cells locked
in fiery rampage, 
and goggle-eyed fish 
wrapped in newspaper 
obituaries. No 
doubt we are 
a society in decline.