Can You Live?

The summers of New York
You feel the fresh tar
Boiling
Melting
Your feet are scorched

You lived, I lived
The harsh cold winter
What's red and white all over?
Your face stinging from the stabs of ice and snow
Slush at your feet
Cold and wet
The consequences of the cold

You lived, I lived
I survived a disease
Manifesting into our lives
Becoming the new normal
It starts to become hard to breath
Pieces of cloth cover our mouths
Painting over our personalities

I lived
Many didn’t
I lived through walks in Mexico
Walks at 2am in the Bronx
Track meets
“Extra time”
Slide tackles
Shots (soccer balls) to my stomach
Bloody noses
Broken arms

People have lived through war
Shots to the chest
Death
People can live with no eyesight,
no hearing, they love to live
They survive fights
They can move on
They can live
I can live
You can live too