Air Hunger

A little Armageddon
For the ordinary lungs
Dying in the hospital

Of life’s ordinary loss,
Pneumonia, COPD,
Inflammation, or cancer,

The cells starved of oxygen,
The body reflexively
Gasping for more air, more air!

Milder forms include asthma,
But in the dying, it’s death
Announcing the beginning

Of descent. On the ground soon.
Above the clouds, then under.