Salman Akhtar
Salman Akhtar, M.D., is professor of psychiatry, Jefferson Medical College, and training and supervising analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia. A recipient of the Sigouney Award, he is the author or editor of over 100 books.
I can’t breathe.
The air is poisonous.
Knives fly in my throat,
cut through my lungs.
Don’t just stare.
Give me a bowl of affinity,
a spoonful of mother,
if you care.
Don’t turn my death into
a bloodless poem.
Use my roadside body as a flag,
Rise up. Dare.