Curse
my fucking lungs
this cough it burns
catches
me unawares
and leaves me with
a tingling sensation
across my face
and sparkles in my eyes
it's funny, is it not?
how some words ignite the mind
when I see the word curse
I imagine someone fist in the air
or gripping tightly at their phone
as they try to make sense of the
senseless
curse the ground they walk on
curse them for their stupid rules
and regulations
when I see the word cough, I instantly
remember
every single cough, wheeze and chest compression
I've ever experienced
the times when I've coughed so hard
and brought muck up
and the times I've coughed so hard
and felt it a useless endeavour
then there are the times
when the cough precedes the nausea
and dizziness
and leaves me with
a tingling sensation
across my face
and sparkles in my eyes
*
Thanks for reading!
Author's Notes: Yeah, you won't need two guesses as to what inspired this. ha.
Here are some other things for your beady eyes and inquiring minds to dig into!
About the Creator
Paul Stewart
Award-Winning Writer, Poet, Scottish-Italian, Subversive.
The Accidental Poet - Poetry Collection out now!
Streams and Scratches in My Mind coming soon!
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Comments (13)
'Sparkles in my eyes' sounds so much nicer than it actually is! I hope you're feeling better by now!
So sorry you’re still not feeling well! The associations you described for “curse” and “cough” were so on the nose and deftly captured! Hope you can shake the cough soon, Paul!
Sounds like a miserable time- communicated brilliantly though!! A plagued poet you are... Hope things start to turn for the better soon mate, and that there can be happier sparkles in those eyes before long!
Well-wrought! Rest and relax where you can, friend, and hack up the curse.
Oh no, I thought you'd have recovered by now! Did you go to the doctor's?
Yes sparkles in my eyes is such a weird and amusing way to describe this! 😊 Hope you are less crook soon!
The tingling and "sparkles in my eyes" add a vivid, almost surreal touch to the physical experience. It’s like a snapshot of those moments when life’s little annoyances spark bigger thoughts. Well done!
Having just started to get over the effects of COVID, which has been destroying my life for the last two weeks, I can totally relate. Sympahty my friend and I hope you feel better soon.
Oh no. Whiskey, hot water and sugar. Hope you feel better soon.
Good work for a poem about your physical health and hope you start to feel better soon.
This is great poetry, Paul! I hope you feel better soon!
sound like someone's not feeling well. Feel better soon, bud.
Healing vibes your way. hugs