Asthma

Liezel Moraleja Hackett

The problem with shattered glass is
it never goes away.
Take a vacuum to inhale
all the fragmented fractures.
The corners still harbor the shards.
The vacuum can only make the
visible invisible.
Under the table or deep in the corner
there are still many shards unseen.

The problem with shattered glass is
it cuts.
Even if it doesn’t intend to
or you don’t intend to let it cut you
it still finds a way under your skin
splintering, tearing, digging
infinitely deeper
targeting the tenderest point.
Maybe the attraction is
saltwater.

The problem with shattered glass is
it doesn’t stop shattering.
The first break sends a thousand flying fractals
to become a smaller thousands of pieces
until microscopic powder
compressed over time.
becomes powdered dust

Inhaling shards of shattered glass is
why I find it hard to breathe.