Coughs Make the Headlines

Coughs Make the Headlines

(“But I answered him, ‘Should a man in my position flee?’” Nehemiah 6:11a)

“Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter”,
it matters whether we run when the pop guns
boom and pow outside, alongside the hillside
with depleted ammunition.

Scare tactics, I fear, sometimes appear undiluted
and disperse the best to worst of us with recorded noise;
or a single voice claiming authority higher, notarized
with posturized signatures along the bottom line.

Lock me out, lock me in, claim to have the power to
mock my sin and I sink to my knees with the icy
river that runs head to toe at nearly-true scoffs;
coughs make the headlines when there is no other news.

It matters who I follow, I no longer wallow giving flattery
to the rumors, unconfirmed reports of a worldwide takeover
of my conscience, my health, or the nation we all know that
God decided was his very own baby boy and girl
(forget the rest of the world), and fight for the right to
tell them all how wrong they’ve been since we have been
better all along.

But I lose my focus and here I stand, a new stanza to remind
the patient diners of the good plates served where urban myths
are dismissed before they get through the doors.