Lighter Than Black Gold Fever (Nearly As Deadly)

When the smoke clears

We remember

How to breathe

The ash settles on

The ground as

It settles in our lungs

The cough and wheeze of

Air stained grey

Darker than the storm clouds

Lighter than

Black gold fever

Nearly as deadly

It is not the trees burning

Not the concrete skyscrapers

Or suburban rooftops

It is our hearts

Lost in flaming bodies

Buried under flesh

And bone like walls

Falling in around us

We blaze on until

We are only embers

And dust

We scatter at a touch

Reckless in the breeze

And the smoke from

Our burning clears

We have choked some other lungs

The cycle repeats

Indefinitely