The Edge of Breath

 

I feared no beast until the bite,

A playful nip, a trick of light.

The dog had eyes like shattered glass —

Too late I knew what came to pass.

Now water mocks me, clear and cruel,

It dances just beyond my rule.

A single sip, and knives awake,

My throat a tomb no drink can break.

Each muscle screams, a burning wire,

Consumed by an unseen, frantic fire.

My own skin crawls, a living shroud,

Lost in the silent, tortured crowd.

The fever sings in snarling tones,

My thoughts are dust, my voice — just groans.

Each heartbeat howls, each second stings,

As madness folds me in its wings.

The faces blur, the names all fade,

A broken song, a life unmade.

I clutch at shadows, grasp at air,

A ghost of who I used to care.

But I — I was not born a beast.

I lived with pets, I laughed, I feast.

The cat that curled beside my chair,

The dog whose bark once cleared the air...

They were no threat. They were my own.

But health is more than flesh and bone.

It's thread that ties all life as one —

The beast, the man, the air, the sun.

The warmth of touch, the gentle hand,

A foreign land I understand

No more. The world turns cold and grim,

Lost on the edge, a fading whim.

No peace I find, no moment's grace,

Just terror etched upon my face.

The clock ticks down, a heavy beat,

To this, my final, dark defeat.

We share this earth, its breath, its pain,

Its microbes swimming in our vein.

One sickness leaps from paw to skin,

And chaos finds its way within.

So guard them well — the ones you tame,

Your loyal friends who bear no shame.

Their health is yours, and yours is theirs,

One life, one breath, the burden shared.