I hope it’s just some pollen-triggered phlegm,
an allergy response in throat and head,
and not a symptom, felt at 3 a.m.,
that I’ve a cold developing. I dread
the complications rhinovirus-led –
bronchitis, narrowed airway, weariness.
I’m recently too often in my bed –
today the signs are tinged with dreariness.

(Huitain)