Persistence

Work out. Ten laps.

Chin ups. Look good.

 

Steam bakes old bones.

Phone humming in the locker room.

 

One bite of the apple,

One long kiss goodnight.

 

Nurse in white,

Her voice soft as a secret.

 

Pricked vein, blood’s whisper.

Dance of the disappearing reds.

 

Wrap up warm, they say,

As breath grows shy and scarce.

 

Night's sweats and sores,

The slow parade of loss.

 

Clenched fist, unclenched world.

Haunting echoes in hollow rooms.

 

Commands to the mirror,

Grimaces returned in kind.

 

Halting words like tired steps,

Chin up, but the sky falls.

 

Embrace the chill, the stiffening of will,

Coughs that rattle like old gates.

 

Patient gown, the draft of life,

Each draught a nearing shore.

 

The gasps of a fish on land,

Less air, less time, less.

 

Rooms bleach-white,

Soul’s fever, limbs in rebellion.

 

No more the march, the workday rhythm,

Eyes scan the ceiling's sterile tiles.

 

Air, the greedy heir,

Takes all, gives back scraps.

 

Blood thin as regret,

Lungs like crumpled paper.

 

So say the healers,

Counting the days on fingers.

 

Meal untouched, bed untouched,

By air, by time, untouched.

 

Evening wrestles with the clock,

Knocking gently, unavoidably.

 

Persistence of the beat,

In the chest, a drumming plea.

 

Inhale the world, if you can,

Exhale, and hold the void at bay.