Listen Right, or Left?

Reduced from six point five to six,

This is good news, the doctor beams

(I’m guessing Southeast Asia).

The year of healthy eating worked,

no need for Statins now, I nod

but think to hell with that idea.

Muesli softens in milk, low fat.

I pause halfway, realise

it’s filling my smaller stomach.

On my left an old ghost

mutters of waste,

children dying in Africa.

My right shoulder feels the pinch

of wicked black claws,

it won’t go to waste on me,

an old friend cackles and cleans his beak

on sharper shoulder blades.

I empty the bowl of soggy grains,

hear the flutter of charcoal wings, 

sound of nails on wood as the clan

answer his call.  That old ghost falls silent,

fades away from me, stage left.

 I have been writing poetry and short stories since childhood. My poetry has been published in anthologies and journals in Ireland such as Drawn to the Light, Crannog, Cyphers, Stinging Fly, Poetry Ireland Review etc. I have also been published in British and American magazines such as Scintilla and Superpresent. I have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.