Back from the Brink

The dust and pollen choke my throat and nostrils
And give rise to horrific discharge
Vociferous sneezes echo through the halls
As handkerchiefs fill the laundry barge

Tears fill these bloodshot eyes
As coughs gallop forth after
Guttural moans and agonized cries
Emanate from this face filled with plaster

Fever heats a furrowed brow
Will the world end today?
Armageddon would be so welcome now
With every sneeze, my life ebbs away

And oh, the pounding echoes through my skull
With waves of pain that batter its shores
No more can I take these screaming gulls
That flutter with feathers that stab and bore

But soon she will come to make it better
With chicken soup and honey ginger tea
To smooth the shards and make dry coughs wetter
And make the fevered furrows in my brows flee

And sip I do with oohs and aahs
As soft gold drips down my gullet
And to think life was so dreary and dark
That I would have happily bitten the bullet

Aaah my ever sweet mattress,
Thy warmth and comfort drown me in love
And dreams spill forth from thy heavenly caress
As a blanket of stars covers the sky above

Lazy sleep seeps into my bones
As my coughs and sneezes dissipate
My nose no longer knows the blows
My bloodshot eyes succumb to their dreamy fate