I suffocate now
During sleep
Dreaming of days
Which await me
And mornings so dry
Tasting illness
Having blood and green
In this nose

Praying somehow
These sandpaper eyes
Will finally see
Something different
Than sights soon lost
Always burning
After opening up
Facing light

That God insists
Remains good
Even though such sun
Appears joyless
While suffering pain
Ever present
Both physical
And mental at once

Just how all grief
Rears its meaning
Through hardship bound
Towards persistence
Against real fear
Coexisting
Despite each attempt
Fighting back

When putting on clothes
Is a triumph
Defying what thoughts
Create symptoms
Like our nightmares
Witnessed come morning
From startling truths
Never grasped

Where the past finds souls
Needing healing
Reliving lost hells
Very briefly
Behind closed lids
Begging heaven
Tomorrow’s new day
Won’t repeat.

• J. Pigno