He sat me down.
I was nine
and a half.
It seemed like
he’d been crying.
There was crust
in the corner of his mouth.
“I’ve got cancer
in my throat,” he told me.
All these years later,
I remember the crust
in the corner of his mouth.
David Romanda lives in Kawasaki City, Japan. His work has appeared in places such as Gargoyle Magazine, The Louisville Review, The Main Street Rag, PANK, and Puerto del Sol. Romanda is the author of one chapbook, I’m Sick of Pale Blue Skies (Ethel Press, 2021).
