Succumbing to Suffocation–Samantha Terrell
We open our mouths to gulp
air with avaricious breath,
the way dogs lap up
water after a run.
Instead, snowflakes slip silently
onto tongues, filling us
with cold and calm. But peace
will not stay. Forced to prioritize
better contenders for her gift, she
vanishes with the woes
that pressed
upon us so –
forcing us up for air.
***
Samantha Terrell is a Pushcart-nominated poet and the author of multiple collections, most recently Dismantling Mountains (Vellum Publishing UK, 2023). Her poems have been widely anthologized in publications such as Green Ink Poetry, In Parentheses, Ink Pantry, Misfit Magazine, Nine Cloud Journal, Open Journal of Arts & Letters, Poetry Quarterly, Red Ogre Review, Spillwords, and others. Terrell and her family reside in Binghamton, New York.