“Kawasaki”
they called it:

recognizable partly
by strawberry tongue -

a poetic name
for a terrible symptom.

Imagine

skin that roses,
wheals, and
swells

coalescing

before peeling away
in impressive sheets
like parchment

febrile

for long days made longer
by the fussing
of a worried mother.

Imagine

raging

so hot and incandescent
that your heart
explodes.