THE BREATH I STEAL

 

I am Mycobacterium, cloaked in disguise,

A cunning rod, too small for eyes.

I ride the breath, I seek the deep,

Where warmth and blood are mine to keep.

I settle soft in silent lobes,

A phantom seed in crimson robes,

Macrophages rise, engulf in vain.

I weave in cells, I build my throne,

Necrotic halls of death and bone.

A hollowed space, a breathless tomb,

Where air dissolves and caverns bloom.

I do not strike with haste or roar,

I linger, fester—claiming more.

At stealthy dawn, I am nothing more than a sigh,

A tired yawn, a passing chill,

A cough brushed away with a careless hand--

Nothing to fear, nothing to my name.

Quiet descent latter, I take more than I give,

 Breaths turn shallow, brittle and unsure 

The nights are drenched in fever’s grip.

Ribs protrude, frame turns light,

As hunger fades like waning flame.

Each meal untouched, no taste remains,

Yet none can see, none call my name.

Unbeknownst to them, I am not just sickness—I am silence.

I steal voices, not just lungs.

I turn faces away, hands withdrawn,

I carve a distance no bridge can cross.

A mother whispers behind closed doors,

A child sits apart in the schoolyard,

A man is left to waste alone,

Their bodies fragile, their names unspoken.

But I do not stop where silence dwells—

I dig much deeper, I craft new hells.

I gnaw at bones till they grow weak,

Spines that bend, joints that creak.

I drown the lungs, I seize the brain,

I make the heart beat sharp with pain.

I fill the chest with air too tight,

Stealing breath, devouring light.

I do not just take life—I take belonging,

And leave behind a ghostly longing.

But now I feel the fire rise against me,

In hands that heal, in voices that call my name.

They know me now, they seek me out,

They do not fear my shadowed claim.

A simple test—a drop of breath,

A chest laid bare to light’s embrace.

They find me now before I spread,

Before I carve another space.

Pills like shields, a battle plan,

Six months, a war that can be won.

A guiding hand, a watchful eye,

A system built so none must die.

They tear me from lungs I seize,

They rebuild where I burned to ash.

They breathe where I stole the breath

Till no trace of me is found.

I tried to linger, tried to stay 

But now I'm pushed

A force too strong- no place to hide 

If you hear the echoes of my song,

The cough that lingers far too long,

The fever burning in the night,

The weight that fades without a fight—

Do not wait, do not hide.

Seek the healers, the guiding hand

A test, a cure, a chance to breath, to rise, to stand.

For every breath reclaimed anew,

Is proof that I can lose to you.

            @dubaemo✍️