Lunger

I almost wish the

goddamn thing would come for me

fill my lungs with fluid

and give me the cough

hell I’ve lived with these

heavy sacks in my chest

for most of my life

I’ve learned to deal with them

and their heft;

This goddamn thing

has me trapped like a rat

when I have claws and

teeth more like a predator

than a meal

I wish it would come for me

I do not fear death, but

I do fear being alone.

Reviews

[R.E. Ray]

JR, your last two verses (I do not fear death, but I do fear being alone) speaks to the essence of being human. We're communal beings and rely upon each other. It's how we're programmed. We've relied on our numbers to survive and thrive as a species. Loneliness suffocates us. That's what you've expressed so graphically here. This is raw and such a true expression of human nature.

[JR]

Thanks bud. I am a lunger... I have asthma so this whole thing is kinda freaking me out and making me calm at the same time. It's a weird gray space to be living in.

[R.E. Ray]

That makes sense, JR. Strange, I'm embracing the solitude this weekend. I'll be forced out next week to deal with the chaos in public.

[John the Baptist]

Heavy stuff. The greater part of the work has the sound of one dealing with depression, frustration and anger. The last two lines are the key to the poem. I wonder how many are thinking such thoughts in the midst of this plague.