I would like
to say that one thing
that needs to be said,
the word,
the sentence,
that sits like a rock
- not large, just large enough -
within my throat
and makes all life
just a gasping of breath
a long desperate set of wheezes
pleas upon pleas upon pleas
so intense
that they do not admit
the space for despair,
I would like to speak,
just once,
just the one thing,
just once.