This summer, I’m over eighty years old.
And a pesky virus has taken hold.
It isn’t Covid; it isn’t the flu.
It is just an old-fashioned summer cold.

With a common cold, despite what you do,
It lasts for a week, and sometimes for two.
For fevers: aspirin or tylenol,
Or maybe grandmother’s family brew.

Occasionally, if the GI blues call,
Then drink that pink stuff called Pepto Bismol.
With diarrhea, you must re-hydrate.
Common sense says to avoid alcohol.

But mostly, you’ll want to just vegetate
Because you’ll find that you can’t concentrate.
A summer cold is to have and to hold. (1)
And, lasts for a fortnight, so I’ve been told.

(1) See “Fahrenheit Gesundheit,” by Ogden Nash, 1941