SICK LIT MAGAZINE

This Life

by Jeffrey Zable

The problem with it is that too many things can go wrong

when you least expect it, from a gust of wind blowing a wasp

into your mouth while you’re on your way to the market

to buy a loaf of bread, to tripping on a three-quarter inch

sliver of poodle shit that an elderly lady missed because her eyesight

is no longer what it used to be. It’s a precarious journey any way

you look at it and even though the safest place to be is probably in bed,

there is always the possibility you could turn the wrong way,

fall to the floor and crack open your skull,

wind up in the hospital with bills that your insurance company

refuses to pay because it was your own damn fault—

like being born in the first place. . .