i.
you remind me of drowning,
of bubbles floating upwards in a dream,
of a creeping pressure that threatens
to crush my hyoid bone.

you smell of suffocation.

ii.
you remind me of songs sung
on your last breath, when the
traces of air barely register
in your lungs.

there are ticket stubs flowing
from your mouth, past lives
in your eyes.

iii.
you are the sweet note in a song,
amplified until my ears scream
in an attempt to drown the noise.