Swallowed Whole

We went down
smooth as an egg
in the maw
of the great snake
pandemic

We lost our footing
kept collapsing
into sleep
lost track
of days and hours
in an endless
exhaustion

punctuated only
by the sounds
of rough coughs
and ragged breath

pushed to extremity
our focus grew
narrow
incandescent
desperately keen

reaching only
to the struggle
for one more
inhalation

Swallowed Whole

fighting hard
to keep that
one small step
ahead of death

pulled up so short
even ordinary acts
feel like a dream
of impossible freedom
escaping the laws
of flesh and gravity
to rise like joy
into the blue sky
of a world we can’t
remember