A World So Still

Breathing on a cold afternoon
Motionless afternoon
With the world standing still
With the world held still
Strung to a string
Afternoons of turning
But now, still

And as the world stands
I hold my breath
My world withheld in my iron lungs
Air not knowing
Not being able to expand the metal clamp
Oxygen not knowing the depth
The depth of the two holes
Attached to my esophagus

Only apprehension,
And it’s lack of
Only apprehension,
Finds the gaps
Unscrewing nails
Inward, crushing
Moving metal rails
Bronchioles rusty and rough
Arterys crunching and twisting

And when out my trunk
Breath, foggy
As the world stops,
Held on its string
Because I hold it in
And seal my lips
The fog lingers
Everpresent, hung by Os and Hs
Vapor strung, holding still

Until the hour
The moon eclipses the sun
I see it’s shine suspending
My latest gasp
And every way you look
It’s just a trick of the light
They say I’m still living
But you can’t live without breathing
And mine is just a trick of the light
Life’s really not moving
I’m standing still
Heart still beating
Just a trick of a life