Sleep Apnea Poem by Patti Masterman

Try to sleep,
and then try to dream, even-
Even though your tongue
blocks your throat,
Even if the still air eludes sleep;
Try to remember just how many Judas,
how many Hitlers, have owned this world
and everything in it.

Then, if you still have some oxygen left,
try to recollect, to reflect upon
How many have died uselessly,
from accident or misunderstanding;
Died hopelessly, futilely, died lacking dignity-
Strangling on the dry, stagnant air of desperation,
Choking quietly, into the pillow of fetid graves.