Cholangiocarcinoma.

Ever heard a word like that?
Sounds made up, vaguely Spanish?
It’s not. I saw it on a billboard:
In February wear green for
Cholangiocarcinoma.
It was March, and raining
cats and dogs, and I had a cough.

There are diseases you never heard of,
I realized. Something’s gonna get you.
Something’s gonna kill your dog.

Imagine being told you’ve got a condition
with a name like that.

The rain on my windshield truly clatters
it is coming down so hard now
like fingernails someone taps
to show impatience.

I turn up the seatwarmers, accelerate.
Cancer of the bile ducts, google tells me later.