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Pack
What should I pack?
Ice?
Heat?
Lies?
Cards?
Dogs and wolves?
Maybe, I'll pack myself
Cram my body
In the carry-on
Fold my ears carefully
So the zipper leaves
No bloodstains
Wear the cuffs of my trousers
Rolled, so they don't snag.
I'm not as limber
As I once was
I might need the jumbo suitcase
Then again, due to size restrictions,
I might be gate-checked
Forced into the cargo hold
Where unpressurized, I'll freeze and dry,
Shrink to the size of a mothball
Unrecognizable, even if I am
Transferable
Awaiting reconstitution on the baggage carousel
Into something vaguely human
While those poor bastards above me
Packed together in steerage
Nose to seatback
Rack up their frequent flyer miles
Like Grandma used to save
Her S and H greenstamps
Reaping all the benefits
Of their wings and prayers
Corey J. Langer, MD, is Professor of Medicine and Chief of Thoracic Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center, Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine.
A former President of Delaware Valley Poets, a grassroots group based in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, that conducts monthly workshops and hosts monthly readings, he continues to spearhead its monthly readings, which are now done in tandem with US 1 Worksheets at the Princeton Public Library.
His poetry has been widely published, including in Brooklines, A Muddy River Anthology, A Different Latitude, Thatchwork, Annals of Internal Medicine, Edison Literary Review, Quick and Dirty Poets, Identity Theory, U.S. 1, and U.S. 1 Worksheets.