Today's poem is by Adam Scheffler

Advice From a Dog
        after Amy Gerstler

Piss expressively.
Detect the aura of seizures.
Judge objects first by movement,
then by brightness, then by shape.

Impersonate a helicopter
when reunited with a person you love.

And when you hear an ambulance
try to instigate a mass keening.

If worms grow in your heart,
call their number
the "worm burden."

But have someone who loves you
administer a pill,
so each month the
worm burden is nil.

Get mugged by a cat,
and be able to smell cancer.

But smell also the worms coiled up in
the human heart, thousands.

A "wyrm" is a serpent or dragon.
A "burthen" is the capacity of a ship.

Picture their heart as an
aircraft carrier
covered in dragons.

Then, offer your condolences:
Lay your head on their feet.
Opportunistically lick their toes.

Have Bella be your most popular name.

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Copyright © 2023 Adam Scheffler All rights reserved
from Heartworm
Moon City Press
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission