It invades without warning
suddenly you just can’t breathe
without thinking really hard about it,
and your hearing isn’t quite right
like there is a thin layer of cotton
lining your inner ear…
…then it attacks unmercifully
filling your lungs with ash
or soot or some kind of otherworldly matter
that you instinctively try to cough away
to no avail, just more coughing…
…and you awake from restless sleep
sweaty and shivering under piles
of blankets and tissues and
half-emptied bottles of vitamin drinks
wondering if you will ever feel alive again…

Leave me be you heartless beast
I just want to live again…