Drink More Water

What are you writing, I asked

It's a parody of all the bad blood I carry
inside of me, he said



As in hemophilia or as in sharpened old stories,
I asked, about the blood

Hemophilia, he said, and chuckled,
listen to this goddamn jokester

Parodies can be about blood disorders
and broken hearts
and mineral deficiencies,
I said,
and they can
but I don't know enough about hemophilia to
venture a guess

I told him to forgive his family
and drink more water
It was good advice, I figured,
regardless of the specifics

Everyone needs more water,
and forgiveness
is anything but aging.