Sign of the Crab    by  Helen Annand

They'll pull up
my half stomach
my brother says
and join it to what's left
of my gullet.
I have an immediate
cartoon balloon image
of a meagre haggis
bagpiping in his chest cavity
above a vacuum cleaner hose
snaking down
into an abdominal hollow.
Lurking in my unshed laughter
are the tears.

© Helen Annand

from her book 'Sketching with Words'