fifty trillion of them,
give or take an exponential few,
programmed to replicate, then die, ad infinitum
spawning perfect copies to ensure
molecular harmony

their perfection could not keep
their host from huffing on tar sticks,
gobbling bacon by the kilo, or worshiping the sun's crisping rays
until one of their eternal days, a perverse mutation occurred
one at first, then two, then four, then more
forgetting that all were once destined to die,
in a crimson clockwork fashion

apoptosis
the new invader would hear nothing
of this strange word, for it was the emperor of maladies,
its geometric procession a spinning spectacle to behold,
purloining space from the mortality hobbled trillions
evicted by cancer's kangaroo court

it will have its reign,
this galloping ghost maker, until
the host gives up the fight, and
that which fed its gluttony  
will starve it as blithely
as the body gave it
******* birth

After one month together
You came up with an idea
“Let’s test our love for each other”
I thought, “Why not?”

It started with whimsical ways
You loved the way I laughed in the morning
I loved when you held me tighter when we cuddle
Then we went onto appearances

Oh I love the colors of your irises
Blue and green like the aura borealis
But they were dancing along to a somber song
Rather than a happy one

I brought it up
But you said literally nothing
Which says more than “nothing”
We got into a fight

The snow seemed to melt
From our heated discussion
I left
To let things cool

You stopped responding
To my messages
So I drove back
And opened the door

To the sound of our dog barking
I followed him
To the sunroom
With the vast windows

And there I saw you
Hanging lifeless
From the elegant maple
“What have I done?”

I dashed to you
A layer of fresh snow
Settled on your head
Under you was a note

Carved into the trunk
“I LOVED YOU THE MOST”
To this day
I’m still haunted

In that moment, I realized
That’s what happens
When you assign values
To something that cannot be measured