it's not
that i can't breath
just that the air
is too heavy
too humid
too thick with lies and
sickly sweet half-truths
that choke me up
and fill my lungs with smog
drowning me with the intention
towards strife and barbarity to consume
the life-giving
and raise
the executioners
on their thrones
of thorns

it's not
that i can't breath
just that the air
isn't right
does not satisfy
this burning in my lungs and
the dizzy fog in my head
that trips me up
and fills my mouth with gasps
my lungs heaving against iron bands
of cultural and social restrictions
on the righteous
and leniency
for the cruel
on their stages
in masks

it's not
that i can't breath
just that the air
is alive
smothering me
intoxicating and illusory and
insubstantial as a midnight dream
that jolts me awake
and fills me with unreasoning panic
banishing from my mind all reason
in the laws of nature to protect
the awake
and disturb
the sleepers
in their hollows
of selfishness.


h.f.m.