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

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.

Please enjoy“I Breathe”,

a poem by Taylor Fox

I greatly desperately want to make art.

That which I must implement consumes my waking moments.

Ideation and creation

is essential to who I am as breathing.

but I have Multiple Sclerosis.

"Multiple cerebro-spinal sclerosis".

That's my secret, Reader.

I'm Always Tired.

Physical barriers have formed in the nerves of my brain and spine.

As if that game you've loved forever suddenly changed,

just for you. You want to buy the Keaton Mask?

No. You can't. You want to get the Dash Boots?

No. You can't. You want to descend into the depths of Venom and confront Andross?

No. You can't. And no one thought of a path to win without those things.

Everyone knows the First Rule of Disability is;

Don't Talk about your Disability.

I've been trapped under ice,

deep in the cold, freezing water.

I've managed to break through the ice and been able to breathe,

before being dragged under again.

But maybe, now, the ice is too thick.

Maybe the longer I go,

failing, the thicker and stronger the ice becomes.

I search for the strength.

The cleverness to pinpoint where to strike.

Maybe I've already drowned.

Maybe I'm a ghost,

doomed to fail, forever.

Artistic afterlife.

I ask of and bargain with the living.

But the tools to create phase through my fingers.

I try my best to never let on to my loved ones that they See Dead People.

I'm not prepared for death, in any capacity.

I don't know how to find my body,

damaged and scarred as it is,

let alone how to get back.

I'm gone. ... But I want to be there.

With you. And him,

and her, and all of them.

I will never stop striving for it.

I need time. Patience.

And understanding.

Everything that you, my friend, might have already decided I can have.

I want to repay that generosity,

love, and grace. And I never will,

unless I keep trying,

seeking strength and cunning from every source available.

And maybe, soon, I'll breathe again.

This was “I Breathe”

by Taylor Fox, read for you by Solomon Harries,

the Cuddly Badger Dad.

Thank you for listening

to The Voice of Dog.