Undocumented

He swallows flies and pretends.

Pretends they are delicious. Everyday.

They are so delicious,

that he smiles.

Smiles every day, so they bring him more.

Bring him more and he tells no one.

Tells no one, every day and takes them all.

Takes them all so we do not have to.

He tells no one so we do not have to every day.

It could be worse, I know, and it could be worse

than flies. Worse than flies, he agrees.

And life is short, he says.

So he smiles and swallows.

Swallow flies for me.

For the rest of his days.

Sumit Parikh is a poet from Cleveland, OH, whose work is shaped by his experiences as a pediatric neurologist, a son, and a father. He finds poetry in both the complexities of his work as a physician and the quiet moments of everyday family life. His work has appeared in I-70 Review, North Dakota Quarterly and Intima, among others. Some of his poems can be found at sumitspoetry.com. Sumit lives with his wife and daughter. He is currently part of a writing mentorship and workshop with Brian Evans-Jones, a former Poet Laureate of Hampshire, UK, and winner of the Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award from Poets & Writers.