It felt like death

It felt like death

Stuck

Deep in the mud

Lying alongside me

Was America

The whole of it

Supine

Struggling, half done

Each arm and leg

Pulling in a different direction

Going down

I stood on its nose

All the better to pull myself clear.

It was a swamp of fools

Russia was there

With North Korea and China

Tugging at each other

Politely distrustful.

All weighed down

With military hardware

And insignia

They were bound to sink

Eventually.

I couldn't bear the stink

Of it

I am allergic

To despair

And a certain kind of idiocy.

Sneezing

Came in convulsive waves

Loosening the hold

Ennui had over me.

The horror of such proximity

To destruction

Buoyed me up

Shook me free

Until I was alive again

Dreaming of a free world.

Breathing easy,

In sweet release.