Marc Swan
Marc Swan lives in coastal Maine. Poems recently published in Glimpse, Nerve Cowboy, The Atlanta Review, Mockingheart Review, among others. His fifth collection, all it would take, was published in 2020 by tall-lighthouse (UK), and today can take your breath away was the first title published by Sheila-Na-Gig Editions.
Vacationland
First Tuesday of the shortest month—
our son-in-law’s best friend
vacationing in Valencia Spain
has a massive heart attack, age 50,
on life support, prospects look dim,
then the unwelcome call comes in.
Closer to home, a good friend’s father
diagnosed with cancer a month ago,
dead at 71, our youngest granddaughter
has Covid, and maybe her mother, father,
sister and me. I went to her hockey game
two nights ago. My sister in a warm spell
in Asheville while I listen to the howl
of the wind, shovel freshly fallen snow.
Weekly session of PT to relieve throb
of weary bones, sinuses drip drip dripping
from my nose; dermatology, ophthalmology,
cardiology, urology, list builds exponentially.
Retirement billed as a trip to vacationland—
leave your worries on the doorstep.
