Saturday, May 21, 2022

Fever Dream


After years of masking against the invisible enemy 

the cough and fever consume me, 

even my voice is gone 

forcing me to bed.  

 

It was the teenager, 

fearless and determined,  

who brought it home 

just like a brutish friend 

at midnight, fully eclipsed 

under cover of purple gypsy music 

or hippy long locks wailing

at the blood moon. 

 

I gnash my mind 

enrobed in weakened pride 

that looks like silent meditation 

while I wait in my sweltering sheets 

for the rattling congestion 

to collide 

with morning tea. 

 

I shuffle,

take fever-breaking tablets, 

nurse warm liquids 
into my raw throat. 


In my broken dreams 

I drive my first car, grey 

on dusty backroads

in Minnesota 

frantically looking for my parents 

and my dead brother. 

 

There is no forgiveness 

for being this kind of human. 
 

No comments: