I write about
fish gasping for oxygen.
I am diagnosed
with emphysema.
Fish and woman,
are inextricably linked.
My parents
cigarette fumes
certainly paved the
way for years of puffing
the magic dragon.
I own my part,
But do not choose to blame.
My plight is not
the whole story.
The trees are burning
The earth is on fire.
Even here in the North Country
polluted south winds
breathe filth into the air.
In summer the sky is thick
with noxious particles
not present
50 years ago.
Whole forests-
precious lungs
of the earth
turn to ash.
Smoke clogs my lungs
Factories spew CO2
Cars belch black smoke
Pesticides congest.
We are dying
for lack of air.
The North wind sighs,
Exhales…
Yes.
Working notes:
I recently received a diagnosis of emphysema that frankly shocked me. 45 percent of my lung capacity is gone. Although I knew my body had been struggling because I wasn’t feeling well and that my oxygen count was low I couldn’t get a diagnosis from the doctor that treated me – my symptoms were ignored – and eventually I was told to see a counselor. It was all in my head…
Talk about neglect. I have had this disease for approximately a year – perhaps a little longer.
I certainly am culpable because I smoked cigarettes as a young adult, but this is not the whole story. We are also dealing with an enormous amount of air pollution that is clogging everyone’s lungs, not just mine.
My disease is only a symptom of a much larger problem. One solution would be to plant billions of trees. As it is now we are destroying the same number of trees that could help us to breathe, trees that could clean the atmosphere, trees that science has proven lower anxiety levels, trees that could sequester CO2 to help us stem the flow of climate change.
Trees could help if we would only let them.
It is the pollution that is poisoning us and depriving us from all that sustains us – air water and food. Take good care of yourself.
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Oh, yes Sunith – and everywhere we continue to ignore pollution at our peril…
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