There’s a Cold Going Around: A Poem

There’s a cold going around.

Your friend, an acquaintance, a stranger
A lover, a cousin: a danger
A dog walker, a butcher, a nurse
It’s there all around you: a curse
Your landlord, Alex Balk, a neighbor
A threat to your life and your labor
The turnstile, the subway pole, the door
Might as well get off at the drugstore
Coughing, sneezing, the heaviest head
Runny, stuffy, a body of lead
Get away, get away, you cry and you scold
Fuck you if you give me your dumb fuckin cold