l’air morte

the last breath which speaks to no one
though others may be present
others may be in the room or on the street when/where it happens
it dissipates into the surrounding air
as if its point of origin had never actually
been---

a few too many drinks before a car ride on a night with a bit of
black ice
a curiosity concerning a drug one has never tried, with no frame of reference besides the snide smile offering
a moment too long of cabin fever brand depression in a house alone with a stocked gun cabinet
a spouse cheating on their significant other who has just stirred up a fatal cocktail to offer them
a sickness eating from within which bears no signs on the face or the exterior until it is too late
a lover whose passion cannot stand another in the mix finding out how to correctly operate a pistol with a silencer

and blood fills the world
unparalleled
as the breaths subtract themselves away
into finality.