Joshua Plack
I will die in a hospital bed in whatever
town I find myself in when the winds which
have carried me decide to hold their breath.
On a bland midday a cheesy game show
will play on a tiny television that dangles
above my bed with cash and prizes and drips
and beeps and beats and a new vacuum cleaner,
a ventilator, and the live studio audience.
The host will stand before me in a suit like
a thrift store couch as tepid, blonde models walk
past my amazing Craftmatic adjustable bed which
reclines to any position and has built-in heating
massage and how much do you want to bid, Tom?
Contestants will look flustered in front of
me and the cameras, unsure how to exist like
someone has just jammed a dozen tubes into
moist orifices old and new. A glittering wheel
will spin forcefully and lights and numbers like
blades will cut through the air waves and flutter
by like the days as my pulse will starts to
slow along with the wheel, the beeps becoming
labored, less frequent, until it all slows to a stop
and the audience explodes with applause.
We have some lovely parting gifts, though.
***
Joshua Plack is an aspiring writer at the University of Oregon where he won a scholarship into the KIDD program, a creative writing workshop, which included mentoring from well-established authors. He recently won the Matthew Knight Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the Shirley McClure Poetry Award. His work has been featured in literary journals such as the Pinyon Review, Echoes and Visions, the Underground, and Unbound.