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“I Breathe” by Taylor Fox (read by Solomon)
You’re listening to The Voice of Dog. This is Rob MacWolf your fellow traveler, and Today we present a poem by Taylor Fox, also known as Star Ringer, who you can find on FurAffinity and Bluesky.
Read by Solomon Harries, the Cuddly Badger Dad.
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https://thevoice.dog/episode/i-breathe-by-taylor-fox
Transcript
You’re listening to The Voice of Dog.
Speaker:This is Rob MacWolf your fellow traveler,
Speaker:and Today we present a poem
Speaker:by Taylor Fox, also known as Star Ringer,
Speaker:who you can find on FurAffinity
Speaker:and Bluesky. Read by Solomon Harries, the Cuddly Badger Dad.
Speaker:Please enjoy“I Breathe”,
Speaker:a poem by Taylor Fox
Speaker:I greatly desperately want to make art.
Speaker:That which I must implement consumes my waking moments.
Speaker:Ideation and creation
Speaker:is essential to who I am as breathing.
Speaker:but I have Multiple Sclerosis.
Speaker:"Multiple cerebro-spinal sclerosis".
Speaker:That's my secret, Reader.
Speaker:I'm Always Tired.
Speaker:Physical barriers have formed in the nerves of my brain and spine.
Speaker:As if that game you've loved forever suddenly changed,
Speaker:just for you. You want to buy the Keaton Mask?
Speaker:No. You can't. You want to get the Dash Boots?
Speaker:No. You can't. You want to descend into the depths of Venom and confront Andross?
Speaker:No. You can't. And no one thought of a path to win without those things.
Speaker:Everyone knows the First Rule of Disability is;
Speaker:Don't Talk about your Disability.
Speaker:I've been trapped under ice,
Speaker:deep in the cold, freezing water.
Speaker:I've managed to break through the ice and been able to breathe,
Speaker:before being dragged under again.
Speaker:But maybe, now, the ice is too thick.
Speaker:Maybe the longer I go,
Speaker:failing, the thicker and stronger the ice becomes.
Speaker:I search for the strength.
Speaker:The cleverness to pinpoint where to strike.
Speaker:Maybe I've already drowned.
Speaker:Maybe I'm a ghost,
Speaker:doomed to fail, forever.
Speaker:Artistic afterlife.
Speaker:I ask of and bargain with the living.
Speaker:But the tools to create phase through my fingers.
Speaker:I try my best to never let on to my loved ones that they See Dead People.
Speaker:I'm not prepared for death, in any capacity.
Speaker:I don't know how to find my body,
Speaker:damaged and scarred as it is,
Speaker:let alone how to get back.
Speaker:I'm gone. ... But I want to be there.
Speaker:With you. And him,
Speaker:and her, and all of them.
Speaker:I will never stop striving for it.
Speaker:I need time. Patience.
Speaker:And understanding.
Speaker:Everything that you, my friend, might have already decided I can have.
Speaker:I want to repay that generosity,
Speaker:love, and grace. And I never will,
Speaker:unless I keep trying,
Speaker:seeking strength and cunning from every source available.
Speaker:And maybe, soon, I'll breathe again.
Speaker:This was “I Breathe”
Speaker:by Taylor Fox, read for you by Solomon Harries,
Speaker:the Cuddly Badger Dad.
Speaker:Thank you for listening
Speaker:to The Voice of Dog.
