The Appendix
The Appendix believed she was part
of the large intestine. She didn’t have
an origin story. At digestive
tract meetings, she dangled silently
sometimes they forgot to leave her a chair
She had ideas for departmental
improvements but knew she needed
more clout before she could speak
At parties she hung at the edges
of conversations, contributed comments
that no one bothered to hear
She was in love with the liver
but who wasn’t, that dark whale
of an organ. You are beautiful
and vital, she told herself
They would be lost without you
She wasn’t getting any younger
She knew that
She threw herself into the task
of harboring digestive bacteria
She harbored impeccably
She harbored with zeal
until she harbored the wrong crowd
No one answered her calls to 911
That’s just typical, she said
in her first bitter tone. She swelled
in self pity and found comfort
in her smarmy new friends
Everyone’s got some good in them
she rationalized
making room for a few more
When finally someone noticed
when the bright light of attention
held her in its glare she capitulated
almost violently. I’ll be good, she sobbed
I didn’t mean it, she pleaded
But the handcuffs were already clamped
to her wrists. The large intestine
pulled back from the commotion
the bad taste. I knew she’d be dragged
off someday, whispered the colon
as her wails faded out in the distance
and a thick hush fell over them all
Carol Graser has run the poetry reading series at Saratoga’s legendary Caffè Lena since 2003 and has performed her work at various events and venues around New York. Her work has been published in many literary journals and she is the author of the poetry collection, The Wild Twist of Their Stems (Foothills Publishing 2007).
