the chicken soup cure

every winter
you hear it. chicken noodle soup.
get yourself
some chicken
soup with noodles. hot
chicken soup.
that's the cure,
that will knock the cold
right out of you.
get an iv
and hook it up to a
chicken.
a hot boiled chicken
with carrots
and celery.
drink tea,
get some sleep.
stay home and rest.
a hot bath.
a cold compress.
but it's all about the chicken
soup.
I can see my mother now
carrying a bowl
to me
on the bottom bunk.
crackers on the side.
thermometer in hand.
open wide
she says
and let me put it under
your tongue.
yup.
you have a fever. eat
this chicken soup.