Short Pneumonia Poems

the chemo…the cancer…the fungus,
bowel obstruction, pneumonia…
all joined hands, 
in a macabre can-can to kill her.

5/25/2022...

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hello kitty pajamas
fuzzy pink footies
hot tea with honey
Vicks vapor rub
wheezing breath
walking pneumonia
I need my mommy to tuck me in...

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You tried to take me out but I overcame you

I'm still defeating you and I will win

Because I am God's child 

God will not let me lose 

I believe in the power of victory 

I can't be stopped and I won't be stopped

Thank You Lord....

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Starving a fever, 
stuffing a cold I'm following 
happily that old 
advice: pumpkin pie, 
coconut cake, excellent 
for easing any ache. 
O Chochona!, it's pneumonia,
so much chicken soup 
from friends in the coop, 
dark and white, breast 
and leg have me almost 
ready to lay an egg....

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Here I lie in Ramona,
sick with the virus Corona.
     I feel like hell
     and cannot smell,
but glad I don't have pneumonia.

In five days' time, I finally felt fine:
Free from the virus Corona.
     Then again it hit,
     now I'm sick as Schmidt,
as I lie in bed in Ramona....

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An Emergency She Did Entail

This is what happened.
Was congestive heart failure
caused by pneumonia. Seems
to be latest thing.

She had started appearing frail and pale,
And several tests she would seem to fail;
Did worry;
Had to hurry;
Now in hospital when emergency did entail.


Jim Horn...

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Ask your doctor about 603712 Sporatic Moratic the TV ad man says.
It might be the only way to reduce your pneumonia.
Possible side effects include
Itching
Hives
Canker sores
Cancer
Swollen limbs
Blood clots
Shortened breath
Shingles
Warts
Shortened life
I immediately call my doctor, demanding he prescribe this to me....

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It’s not so cold, the young sailor lied
His toes fell off, in front of his pretty bride.
I’ve seen worse, the brave lass said.
She caught pneumonia, so now she’s dead.

Grandpa fought the blizzard, his tombstone stated.
Snow is not so bad, kind of overrated.
Grandma visits his grave and shakes her head.
Wondering why she has to go on without her Ed....

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Am Not Around Anymore

Living no longer have reason for,
And being here around anymore;


Died and am on a distant shore.

Jim Horn

TV just went out and wife has the flu.
I am on verge of having a nervous
breakdown. Wife had pneumonia
six months ago and was unconscious
for three days. She has had both knees 
replaced. What could possible go wrong
next?...

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My friend always says “we need to get together soon”
She is a phone friend.
I remind her that I am not going anywhere unless it is forty degrees.
I am an asthmatic.
Cold air triggers my respiratory infection and pneumonia.
I reiterate this twice during this phone call.
“It’ll be forty degrees tomorrow,” she says.
My pause does not last two seconds.
“I don’t want to,” I reply....

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Brrrrrriiiinnnnnggggggggggggggggg
Good. She is not going to pick up.
You can talk to a machine.
So much easier.
Hello?
Hello?
Um, ah, hey, boss, I am seriously sick today.  There is no way I can come to work.
What is wrong?
I have pneumonia, asthma, possible flu, my leg is broken and my head just fell off.
Drop the phone now.
That is enough.
Some people might even consider it overkill....

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They were dynamic, their harmony was fine!
They had pared down to four, from the original nine.
The five who could not sing had pneumonia that day.
We applauded these Corgis in every which way.

They sang Joy to the World and Jingle Bells too.
Adding a bit of jazz, and then Christmas Wee Woo.
They were amazing, and we could not stop clapping.
At the end these Corgis did a bit of back slapping....

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I'm cold, cold, cold
There's little else to say, 
Except I'm cold, cold, cold
I'm locked outside to play.

My mommy doesn't want me
Getting in her way
It's sleeting and so windy
But outside I must stay.

I'm cold, cold, cold
I wander and I stray
I'm shivering and wet
It's an awful display.

I begged to be let in
But have no moral sway, so
I'm bound to get pneumonia
And then I'll pass away....

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one month old baby dies from SIDS
two-year-old does not survive cancer.
three-year-old expires from pneumonia
four-year-old is killed in a tractor accident.
At seventy-two I wonder….
why them?
Why not me?
It makes me want to enjoy every minute that I can
in honor of the ones who did not get anywhere near 72.
It seems like the least I can do, I think
as I reach for hot cherry pie with vanilla ice cream....

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I sat and watched two little boys die,
on my TV screen last night.
I sat and watched as each in turn,
lost his uneven fight.
They died from something we don't fear,
they died because they were poor,
they died from pneumonia brought on by diarrhoea,
which for us is so easy to cure.
I will never forget their mothers cries,
or the anguish of their faces,
once more their reality magnifies,
the inequalities between our races....

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I took my first pneumonia shot
And now my arm hurts – not a lot
But just enough to let me know
That through my veins vaccine does flow.

Before this year, I’ve blown it off
But now, at least, if I should cough
I’ll chalk it up to just a cold
And panic, thus, will be controlled.

I’ll wait a week or two until
The redness leaves and then I will
Prepare again for pain and tingles
When I get the shot for shingles!...

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You never realize how much you love 
Someone until you are next to them 
In their possible death bed unconscious;
I will never forget the terrible experience.

We shudder each time we drive by the hospital,
And thank God that my sweetheart is still alive;
Love does spring eternal and perpetual for sure,
When you are afraid you are about to lose it.

Jim Horn

Her pneumonia had ended up turning 
into congestive heart failure....

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If I could be any animal I might choose to be a mouse.
Finding my way by touching walls in a person’s house.
Mice do not get sick, even if they eat food that is bad.
They never get colds or pneumonia like my tired dad.
Their teeth are strong; their incisors never stop growing.
mice have no electric bills, they have no stress of owing.
They can crawl into the smallest places too.
Wait! Is that a mouse trap with sticky glue beside your shoe?...

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It was pouring cats and dogs
Fully drenched I returning from the piano class
Suddenly saw I, gathered a group of tiny tots
Busy making and floating paper boats

Sat down with them
And danced, sang, sailed the blue boats
In ecstasy I realised that had
Happily embraced my inner child

When emotions ran footloose and wild
Down with a sore throat, influenza, pneumonia
Yet awaiting another shower
To join the kids in their mollycoddled gaiety and gala....

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I've got a summer cold.
It's the worst one yet.
I had pneumonia once for sure,
But worse colds I forget.

My sinus hurts, my throat hurts,
My stomach is upset.
Can't go to work, I sleep all day,
I blow my nose and fret.

My ears are plugged,Can't hear a thing.
I have no appetite.
They say the worst s over now,
And healing is in sight.

Soon I'll be all better,
And I'll be hail and strong.
Just be patient, wait awhile.
I hope I live that long....

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My sister is unwell
Taken by ambulance
First we heard she had sepsis
Then we heard she has Covid
Third diagnosis was a broken T-1 disc
Which means a broken neck
What? This was after the second ambulance ride
And a chiropractor adjustment in between
Surgery is imminent we are told
Then surgery is optional
Now she has pneumonia
I was told by someone who may know
She is saying this because she does not believe in Covid.
I dread picking up the phone now....

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There's a tv commercial with a metaphor,
that some of us may have heard before,
"shingles doesn't care".
If one rolls the virus dice rsv and covid
aren't very nice but "shingles doesn't care."
Competitive bugs that are honing in on you,
like pneumococcal pneumonia too, but
"shingles doesn't care."
In between any tv show that's on the air
these pharmaceutical commercials loudly blare,
our brains on auto pilot, we blankly stare,
cause "shingles doesn't care." Do you?
...

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