Mending

Poem by Matthew Kim, Illustration by Mallika

TW: Non-graphic references to suicidal thoughts. 

If you or anyone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or text the Crisis Text Line at 741741. Learn more at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/.

I can’t breathe.

How scary the feeling of drowning is,

Ventilator!

Do not resist arrest.

The beds are full.

The minutes tick by. 

in a place where there is no water. 14 days.

   7:46.

I can’t work.

& sometimes hurt

Wear a mask.

Someone else will!

…No longer needed.

Readily replaced.

$600. 

  ∞.

I can’t live.

Get help.

Get over it!

is a kind of mending.

Over the bridge I go, 

to lose my mind and find my

where r u ruokay

    - - -

Live slowly. Die brazenly.