Last Gasp

A state of mindless exhaustion overwhelms me I feel wrung out Over-wrought Strained to the very limits of endurance I’m at the end of my tether And the rope is strangling me It’s choking off my mournful breaths Damming my lifeblood An icy chill is seeping through my flesh I feel Death himself has penetrated me As for my heart the poor thing is almost gone She’s coughing out her death rattle Turning the blood to cheap supermarket wine in my veins You can see it in my eyes I’m giving my last gasp I’ve struggled to survive for oh-so long But my efforts have proven worthless Perpetual spasms of life and every one of them in vain Life has deserted me She did so long ago For she is a fickle mistress and I failed to satisfy Now I’m abandoned on the scrapheap A puny scrap of human flesh My lungs deflating with each new gasp of air My heart throbbing in her final beats I raise a fragile bird-like hand Clutching a white handkerchief And wave it in surrender