fear

-- ceaseless --

the fist that squeezes my lungs

that sick choking sweeping

d r o w n i n g

when the thin air slips through the

cracks of my closed lips

like a whisper

pulse heavy with breath-thirsty blood

mind lead and

heavy enough to sink

a million times over : deep

every time i try and take a scraping breath

all i’m taking in is this

// fear //

this scratching wasting constricting

//fear//

that folds and shifts and hold and

f/e/a/r

eating and molding and digging and

it’s getting

hard to

breathe

.