Arnie's Leg

Found out that a friend and former colleague died of cancer last week. I don't write a lot of poetry anymore, but I wrote this for Arnie a few years ago.

Arnie's Leg

First Arnie had a mole
removed from his face.
It was malignant, we heard,
but contained.

Then, they said,
it was in his prostrate or stomach
or colon or everywhere.
Reports varied.

Now, we hear, they're cutting off
his leg. They'll leave
enough hip for a fake leg.
A peg leg, we heard,
like a pirate.

The new rumor is that Arnie's leg
has its own plan
to grow wings like it grew cancer
and fly off to Mexico or Paris
to write poetry with its toes.

We set up a notification system
so we can look at the sky
as it sails over town
each of us with our hands
shielding our eyes and the same thought:

My, what a shapely leg!
How free it looks
untethered to a body.
Bon Voyage, Arnie's leg,
we'll miss you.