shingles doesn’t care

neither does cancer or a hangnail or

psoriasis, psychosis, plague,

gonorrhea, pyorrhea, diarrhea,

MD, TMJ, ALS, HIV, IBS, or

polio which is making a comeback 

even as we speak your body’s rebellion 

began the day you were born complete

only after your obituary is printed

Gregg Shapiro is the author of nine books including the poetry chapbook Refrain in Light (Souvenir Spoon Books, 2023). Recent/forthcoming lit-mag publications include The Penn Review, RFD, Gargoyle, Limp Wrist, Mollyhouse, Impossible Archetype, confetti, and Panoplyzine, as well as the anthology Let Me Say This: A Dolly Parton Poetry Anthology (Madville, 2023). An entertainment journalist, whose interviews and reviews run in a variety of regional LGBTQ+ and mainstream publications and websites, Shapiro lives in South Florida with his husband Rick and their dog Coco.