The Earth Beneath My Feet

2024-08-16 by V U Y O

A ship does not sail on land,
just as I do not walk on water,
just as I do not breathe underwater.
But it shouldn’t matter,
because I’m a human,
and humans breathe on land,
right?

Yet I don’t remember the last time
I could take a deep breath
without the air scorching my lungs,
the last time the air
even reached my lungs.

I can’t breathe underwater,
but I can’t breathe on land as well.