A Gold Sweat

woke up in a cold sweat.

I woke up in a gold sweat today
shells of it,
veiling me,
heat coming off in waves
not for the weak.

It makes the knees weak.
It makes the heart wider.
It blinds
oh, how it blinds the eyes.

Could I collect it?
There goes the greed of man.
I want to bottle this burning,
sell it back to the fever
as proof I was here.

But they say—
Experience. Don't express.
Your words hold no weight against the weight.
So shush.

So I shush.
I hold the gold against my ribs
and let it cool into silence.

But the heat..
the heat keeps coming.

~ Zayyad Tahir