spam

anthrax, salmonella, breakbone fever,
there’s enough threat, enough viruses going around,
enough cans of worms opened already

i put mask & gloves on—drawing a line in the sand,
& pick the words hate, love, with forceps
so as not to intervene, not to interfere in their war & peace,
so as not to be touched, contaminated

odorless, flammable, regretable material,
i read out loud out of the box the words came in,
keep out of reach of children:
if swallowed, call immediately poison control

someone gregarious might have forwarded the words
to somebody he hates or that he loves,
or someone with nothing better to do
might have taken the trouble of returning the favor,
the spam to the ominous, anonymous sender

instead, with fingers crossed,
i reel love, hate, in & seal them in a plastic container:
hoping the lack of air
does to them what the lack of water does to fish,
does to known heavenly bodies

anthrax, salmonella, breakbone fever,
there’s enough threat, enough viruses going around,
enough cans of worms opened already

c. a. campos, 2012