Summer colds

Summer colds

She coughed, then sneezed,
one, two….five times in a row,
her nose bright red, but rushing
from meeting to meeting.
Finally, too sick to even come
to work, she had to stay home
in spite of her importance.
Two days later, she’s back,
coughing, sneezing, one..two..
three…five.
And she’s rushing from meeting
to meeting, leaving a cloud
of airborne viruses floating
in front of my door.
Today, I sneezed, one..two..three..five.
I’m feverish and miserable, but not
important enough to stay at work.
I went home to bed.