I Am Cancer
By: Jehangir Saleh
Written: April 6, 2003

It doesn’t matter to me
That you don’t love me
(I thought I should let you know)
Plato’s seabed is my soul
the ground he built on
As a slave, everyone will see me below you

I am:
the scrambled TV
the expired condom
the dripping laundry,
hanging in the dirty breeze
You try and ignore my salty taste
that stains your lips
while you fall into sleep

I was joking
when I told you NOT to love me
but you smiled, and agreed

I will only blossom, expand
become more disgusting
Don’t worry
I have myself to save
so sleep now while the night thickens
and the cancer beside you
grows