Talin Tahajian: Carcinoma

On Tuesdays you spat daisies, and Wednesdays
were for Chinese takeout, and the space between
the kitchen and the bedroom smells like 7:03 a.m.,

when she used to wake up and ask for pennies
and our wedding bands, and when I asked why,
you’d shake your head and hand me a papaya,

orange, medicinal, seeds like birth marks, the color
of a pill bottle. I remember when the doctor told us
that he had no prescriptions left, and you told him

that’s a shame because you love things that intensify,

like lost hair, hospital bills, plastic bags, the shade
of her November sunburn. Her funeral smelled

like peach tea, broken air conditioners, and it wasn’t
even raining, and she would’ve hated the blue bowl
of lemon drops, wrapped and dusty, and everyone

choking them down.

This poem has appeared in PANK magazine.