????Bolt's Poem Storage Bin???

[Bolt]

Survival
by TANEESH KHERA


when she looks back at you.
on those rare occasions
reflections in her eyes
you see sunlight sometimes
If you're lucky, if the mood is right,
if it pleases the crowd

in her shadow.
of how well you've behaved
always according to her judgment
the air impure and scarce
the amount varied but always
in her shadow

Barely
just barely.
you too can live
only to inhale
if you crack your ribs
and pop capillaries
the more the better, just for her
Just a handful enough
if you puff hard,
for what’s left
for you.

of her fingertips and toes
of the very last vessels
nourishing her blood
down the throat, lungs expanding
all of the air there sucked into a funnel
for herself first, already
She who has taken more than enough

the wake of another human being’s exhale.
It wafts down toward you
to take it in
so thin you gasp
climbing up there where the air you breathe
to do everything right according to another.
an insurmountable mountain
The pressure



https://sfpl.org/books-and-media/san-fra...of-the-day