Dulcet Tones Do Not Lessen the Impact
Vital signs on display.
BP Pulse O2.
Soft tone gently
reminds me to take slow,
deep breaths. When did breathing
become such a conscious effort?
COPD is new this year,
but never to this extreme.
Then the doctor says
pneumonia. Already
compromised in the hospital,
should I be surprised,
when it hangs out here,
thinks this is a resort?
The people here may be nice,
but I can think of better places
to listen to soft, gentle tones.
About the Author: Transplanted from Western New York, Ken Gierke is retired and has lived in Missouri since 2012. He was twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and his writing has appeared as two micro-chapbooks from Origami Poems Project, as well as in several print anthologies and online journals. His writing also has been featured online by Amethyst Review, Silver Birch Press, As It Ought to Be Magazine, and the Ekphrastic Review. His poetry collections, Glass Awash (2022), Heron Spirit (2024), and Random Riffs (2025) were published by Spartan Press. His website: https://rivrvlogr.com/
Image Credit: C.C. Meinhold & Söhne Blood and its circulation, as well as the lungs (1893) Public domain image courtesy of Artvee
As It Ought To Be 