A Catch of Breath

I dropped the pen.

A small clatter.

Bent quick to find it, then

my breath, it didn't matter

to the body, just stopped

a beat.

A dry catch in the throat,

a momentary cheat

of air. A tiny note

of something wrong,

a sudden halt.

Then the rush, a long

pull of the stuff.

My lungs, they seem to fault

me, for just enough

of a quick move.

A small betrayal.

A soft, internal groove

of failing.