prognosis is a poem written by Rhuther Jon Payales and shared with The Ugly Writers under the theme Trust The Process for the month of November

prognosis

i trespass into the world beyond the living

in this mindscape, i see him— a deep entanglement

in a chasm of nothingness; faceless, he sits, he waits

this is but, mundane, if compared to the temporal,

monotonous sound attached to me. beep

blurred faces in garments of white, sift through me

in intervals of my breath; they irradiate me like the sun—

i fall and i rise, my skin, akin to a ceaseless snowstorm

the sky remains dispirited, dodging my every glance. beep

should we pull the plug; should we ever resuscitate

my eyelids latch into one another, like a hazy daydream

he’s still breathing, he’s still fighting; no, he’s struggling

is it only a figment of my desire to live? this, this beep.

the world beyond the living entices me,

but i catch my breath— i have to keep going

i want to hear it beep

i want to hear it—————