Each time I cough
To clear my throat
I wonder what
This might denote
And then my thoughts
Start going viral
In an endless
Downwards spiral:
That cough is
Obviously Corona!
I’m harbouring
An inner Jonah
To shipwreck me!
A tracheal traitor
Who’ll haul me
To the ventilator!
Inflaming my
Raw alveoli
Into swollen
Ravioli
And every rattling
Gob of phlegm’s
Shortcutting me
To lonely crems
So fast the fucker’s
Gone ballistic
To fit me up
As a statistic!
My airways block!
Air can’t get through!
I’ll isolate
To ICU...
Then I calm down.
The airways clear;
My breathlessness
Was just my fear;
I don’t yet need
An autopsy;
We’re all in this
And not just me!
And then I cough
To clear my throat...