The poem “Not to Breathe” is about a very dark ideation. I went ahead and wrote it because of three situations. The first is that I was having this thought, period. Secondly, a once dear friend foretold that I would perish because of breathing issues. Lastly, I had a coughing fit the night before I wrote this poem. It actually caused me to black out for an unknown time. I “came to” yelling because I had leg cramps.