As I Cling To Life (Poem)

first breath when I open my eyes

so bitter I gag to spit out the detritus

night caught in my throat, all I dragged up from the midden

mouth coated with ash, nose with rot, fingers with slime

sleep a visit to the charnel house, waking hours a walking pyre

I constantly shed charcoal shards, a neglected trail of blackened bone