I keep writing these poems, and then I delete
'bout an unpleasant subject I found in a tweet
if you saw what I wrote, you would prob'ly agree
I was dropped as a child and something's just not right about me
You can ignore the verses, you can love 'em or leave 'em
But whatever you do, don't you ever believe 'em
Had a one oh six fever before I was three
I would blame meningitis, but truth is, it's probably me
stretch artist, A. Modigliani amplifies
sketching curvilinear bodies, weak eyes
his far-fetching figures still mystify us
despite his premature death to meningitis.
May 10, 2022
First grade, pelted with eggs
Second grade, broke both legs
Third grade, fell down the stairs
Fourth grade, clawed by a bear
Fifth grade, ran into a tree
Sixth grade, twisted a knee
Seventh grade, concussed my head
Eighth grade, fell out of bed
Ninth grade, had meningitis
Tenth grade, appendicitis
Eleventh grade, torn hamstring
Twelfth grade, acute bee sting...
So, to allay any fears from admission committees
I wrote the following college application ditty:
You may consider me somewhat injury-prone
But I have yet to break my first wishbone
And I give you my whole-hearted assurance
That I will use my parents' health insurance
O dubious malicious horribilus
cunnigfilux goodfornothingfilux nillux;
go to hellishbellish boomboodydoomland.
Mean notsoclean bullfart smellitnot
go punking dunking blunking monkeying
jumpingjack bigfat*** fullofmethanegas
evilus spiritus devious mischievous
coronavirus getitis gastritis meningitis,
run out helter skelter to wither thither
into a zypher cypher blither blackhole.
27.5.2020
I once had a little boy
But he was only here on loan
God in his infinite wisdom
Decided to call him home
I loved my darling little boy
I loved him every day
Right up to the very moment
He sadly passed away
My little boy caught meningitis
Completely took him over
Left him fighting for his life
Unconscious in a coma
Prayers and vigils were said and done
But alas to no avail
My little boy died in my arms
In his fight, did not prevail
I once had a little boy
He was only here on loan
God in his infinite wisdom
Decided to call him home
©Gary Wayne Hill, 2020
PLEASE NOTE - THIS POEM IS NOT FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
Colds, sore throats, Meningitis,
Now I have the flu.
Wondering will this ever stop?
What do I need to do?
Vitamin supplements I’ve taken,
The guilt from work I dread.
All these negative emotions,
Whilst I’m lying down in my bed.
The children they still need me,
I can’t just lie here and be still.
A mother’s job continues,
Regardless of whether she’s ill.
School runs still needs doing,
Meals for the little ones too.
Even with a husband,
There’s still all these jobs to do.
At least I will recover,
In a week I’ll be back on my feet.
I won’t stay feeling down,
I’ll be too busy, there’s jobs to complete.
But while the kids are out at school
I’ll take my chance and rest
This feeling of being ill torments
The weakness I detest.
Since I was a wee one, my head has been snowing
Why have I been blessed with this crap that keeps growing
It's called seborrheic dermatitis
Guess it's better than meningitis
Continue to shovel off my shoulders, this blizzard showing
I once worked with a youth who had gingivitis
Twenty years younger yet she already had arthritis
Pretty enough in spite of her dermatitis
She so craved attention we all thought caused by meningitis
Winters seemed worse with time off due to bronchitis
Bouts in hospital for appendicitis and diverticulitis
Regularly like clockwork she came down with severe vacationitis
After each self-prescribed vacation she’d strangely suffer from moneyitis
She talked our ears off we kept hoping she’d get laryngitis
But no, it was only bursitis and colitis followed by gastritis
Ms. Black sure was high maintenance with her neurosis and neuritis
AP: 1st place 2025, Honorable Mention 2020
Jonnie Peacock was born on 28th May in 1993,
And is an English sprinter and right leg amputee,
He won gold in the vital games of London 2012,
And into the category T44 he does neatly delve.
He was born in Cambridge, that old university town,
But at the age of 5 meningitis did make him frown,
So he asked his hospital for some football facilities,
Who gave him a prosthetic for his lively jocularities.
Directed to Paralympic sport, he did truly awaken,
To running the 100 metres, and he was totally taken,
Not faking, he raced at the Paralympic World Cup,
His first international, in Manchester, he did build up.
Next month June, the US Paralympic trials do occur,
Jonnie set a record time of 10.85 to squarely concur,
With his coach Dan Pfaff, who believed he could win,
At the London Paralympics, where we saw him grin!
somehow i lost myself
right now i have no feeling
in this moment i lose myself in the façade that includes her
my one true love is waiting for me
i am too much of a coward to tell her that i will not be coming back
our son has had quite the battle with spinal meningitis
last night he called and said his chills were at that level again
i never returned his message for i was too busy indulging on cake with immoral icing
i am only thinking of me and the reflection i see in the mirror
i only think my son will hate me when he is older when i am dreaming
i want to pay my son a visit and surprise him with my cinnamon rolls with the sweet cream stripes that he likes
however guilt is kicking my butt right now, and i am so weak that i cannot even fight back
i find myself backtracking without even knowing it and end up at the she devil's house again
as she straddles me for another ride to self made regret, i blind myself in the temporary ecstasy to get my conscience high and oblivious to a truth that is so obvious
i lose again
ZACH
Let me take away your heartache,
Let me bear your unbound pain.
For I don't want you going through,
All that suffering again.
On the worst day of my life thus far,
We were standing side by side.
When we took our boy to hospital,
From Meningitis, there he died.
The pain I felt in my grieving heart,
I have never felt before.
I know those doctors tried to help,
And they could have done no more.
On the morning of Zach's funeral,
With a tear in my eye.
It's the hardest thing I've ever done,
As I bade our son goodbye.
To have your child die in your arms,
And there's nothing you can do.
Is the hardest test this world can give,
But his love will see us through.
So heavenly Father I ask of you,
Don't cast my Son aside.
For that young lad who we love so dear,
I now give to you with pride.
Impotent at birth
Impotent at death
and only somewhat potent in between
Why were you born without your own consent
What was the karmic guilt of your first birth
and what about those maimed in the mind
crippled in the womb
eaten by meningitis
by herpes
by syphillis
by aids
What are their chances of mending their karma
And what about that baby born without a brain
How is it to be blamed
for not giving its organs to some transplant bank
Who cares if you live on
If you die
who cares
and for how long
Does one have to care
being but ephemeral
© T. Wignesan, April 2, 1992 (from the collection: back to background material, 1993)
McDonald’s To Mom – Bug Off
By Elton Camp
In Arizona, disgraceful conduct is being seen
Because a parent wants McDonalds kept clean
Filth in the play areas Dr. Carr-Jordan found
The places refused to take action that is sound
She gave them notice and a chance to get clean
But days later the same conditions were seen
What she found was rotting food, dirt and hair
Such disgusting stuff was found most everywhere
Due to that, for dangerous bacteria she did check
What she found, children’s health could wreck
The germs that she found could such as these
Meningitis, nausea and gastrointestinal disease
McDonald’s, instead of working to get it clean
Ordered her out, not wanting a customer so mean
You would think her feedback they would extol
Maybe even employ her to bring infection control
But if they do nothing or take action far too late
It certainly seems to invite regulation from the state
black snakeroot, yew, cocklebur, poison (ivy, oak, parsnip, sumac, ryegrass, hemlock), blister bushes, daffodil, mayapple, lilium, jerusalem cherry, indian licorice, deadly nightshade, christmas rose, bleeding heart, asparagus berries, wolfsbane, tomato leaves, doll’s eyes, the suicide tree, young larkspur, blue-green algae, stinkweed, dumbcane, european spindle, blind-your-eye mangrove, manchineel, laburnum, mother of millions, elderberry root, bacterial pathogens, exotoxins, mycotoxins, grayanotoxins, rhinovirus, chicken pox, sleeping sickness, cholera, yellow fever, typhoid, rotavirus, river blindness, measles, japanese encephalitis, hepatitis (a,b & c), cryptosporidiosis, shigella infection, pneumonia, meningitis, tuberculosis, schistosomiasis, malaria, influenza, herpes (1 & 2), crab louse, scabies, chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, chancroid, trichomoniasis, hpv, hiv/aids, ebola virus, marburg virus, mad cow disease, mudslides, avalanches, blizzards, storms, cyclones, hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, fires, supervolcanic eruptions: evidence of absence.
"Mom and I and Graham Cracker Pie ~ ~"
Mom's been gone a long, long time,
forever and a day.
She always treated each of us
in a very special way!
My favorite "Mommy" memory
of all the things she did,
was a "special" reward, just for me,
ever since I was a kid.
I've always loved, Graham Cracker Pie.
The ones she made were great!
That was my very "special" gift
when there was cause to celebrate.
I had Spinal Meningitis
when I was only eight.
Despite the odds against it,
my recovery was great!
I was laid up for quite a while,
had a long hospital stay.
When I got released to go back home,
I got a Graham Cracker Pie, that very day!
I enlisted in the Air Force,
but before I went away,
Mom made my favorite pie for me,
to send me on my way!
I was headed home on my first leave,
so what did Momma say?
I gotta make Graham Cracker Pie,
cause Ralphie's on his way!
When I rejoin my Mom again,
whenever that might be,
you can bet, my favorite pie,
will be waiting there for me!
Love you Mom.
Ralph Taylor
'Mother'
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