Cough

It's Benadryl season,

so there's no dearth of healthy phlegm,

ordinarily,

allowing a hold on panic--

advisable with others near enough

to hear the second.

I've not yet found the need

to try a third

for the reassurance

of a gurgle

and something to spit,

even alone and fairly certain

it will do the trick.

For I have others, tricks,

such as dialing down

to relax the sense of urgency in a

tickle,

itself more a product, we all know,

of habit, reflex, tic--

unneeded to alarm us any more

than the situation requires.

                                                                                                         m.d. paust