Cancer is a flower
an inky black rose
boiling in your throat
tangled vines
too watery to touch
rising to the surface
to blossom
a ringing phone
at the end of July
Richard Peabody
is a French toast addict and native Washingtonian. He has two new books due out this fall--a book of poetry Speed Enforced by Aircraft (Broadkill River Press), and a book of short stories Blue Suburban Skies (Main Street Rag Press).