Asthma
More wheezing than breathing,
like a blood pressure cuff
tightening around my chest.
Shoulders clenched to the neck,
eyes glassy, diaphragm sore,
exhausted from lack of air.
More panic than pain,
being wrung like a rag.
You try relaxing
when your heart drums
too little oxygen
from flaccid lungs.
Pray for that first deep open breath,
that gulp of cool water on a stifling day.
(Yesterday’s Living Poetry Prompt was “Inhale“.)
About Bartholomew Barker
Bartholomew Barker is an organizer of Living Poetry, a collection of poets in the Triangle region of North Carolina where he has hosted a monthly feedback workshop for more than decade. His first poetry collection, Wednesday Night Regular, written in and about strip clubs, was published in 2013. His second, Milkshakes and Chilidogs, a chapbook of food inspired poetry was served in 2017. He was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2021. Born and raised in Ohio, studied in Chicago, he worked in Connecticut for nearly twenty years before moving to Hillsborough where he lives and writes poetry.
Bartholomew Barker, Poet 
Ah… all too familiar!
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I write what I know. Hope this didn’t incite an attack for you.
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Oh my goodness! That’s what it feels like? WOW!! I am sorry for any suffering from this.
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It’s no fun. Fortunately, the inhalers these days offer quick relief. As boy I’d suffer for an hour or more.
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Grateful for inhalers.
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Best description of an asthma attack I’ve read.
“like a blood pressure cuff
tightening around my chest.”
Well done
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Thanks! Write what you know, right?
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My daughter is asthmatic…gosh this is what it feels like :(
Well written.
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Thank you. The memories of my childhood asthma attacks are still strong. I’m fortunate that it doesn’t trouble me as much as an adult.
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Hope you’re doing okay 💖
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Don’t worry, I’m doing fine these days.
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Nice! <3
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Thank you. Glad you liked it.
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