falling in and out
of fever dreams as
the meds keep me from
ever fully awakening
even as the shallow
unnatural sleep matches
my shallow liquid breaths
a half state in this
lingering torment as
everything seems to
melt into a sludge
or slipping into the
quicksand quagmires
encasing hopes for any
type of wellness after
three weeks of constant
drowning from the flu
as it morphed itself
into this incessantly
rancid relentless demise

fragments of dreams
flutter around my head
cartoon birds circling
as i navigate this gray
barrage of unsightly woe
taking pills that do
little except leave me
feeling off balance as
the silence coalesces as
if i have been buried
alive with no recourse
except to shred the silk
lining the cheap coffin
interred in the expanse
between waking and sleep