Halloween is coming up, and I’m ramping up the spooky in my writing. There is a special surprise coming out around Halloween that you’ll hear about more soon. For today, I want to share a poem for Halloween.

The theme for this poem was “nightmare” and it reminded me of a nightmare that I sometimes experience in my life. I have breathing problems from asthma and other health issues and sometimes, I just can’t catch my breath. This is terrifying. I’m gasping and coughing but nothing comes into my lungs. I worry that I’m going to suffocate. So that inspired this poem.

Coughing

Gasping for air
Your eyes fly open
Pitch black
You try to rise
But your head strikes something hard
You reach up in the darkWood above you
Wood all around you
Trapped
You shout for help
But the tiny space swallows your voice
You pound on the wood
Fingers scrabbling to break through
Nothing happens
Except splinters jabbing under your nails
You shout again
A hoarse scream
But the air is running out
You search again
Seeking anything in the dark
And your fingers close on a string
A string?
You vaguely remember an old custom
Bells hung above gravestones
Just in case someone is 
Buried alive
Panicking
You grab the string and yank so hard
It bites into your skin 
But all you hear
Far above you
A faint tinkle of the bell
Like it’s muffled by something 
(Six feet of dirt above you)
Pull and pull
Ring and ring
But no one comes
Gasping for air
But nothing comes
Until you’re coughing
Coughing
(Coffin)
And slip away into the black