Hi, Ralph—
I like the comparison of a survived cardiac episode to the death and rebirth of the Phoenix. In this poem the phoenix does double duty, representing both the heart attack and the resuscitated patient. The last line could be interpreted two ways. “Breathing . . . tak[ing] flight” could mean that breathing has restarted its fluttering motion, or it could mean that breathing has flown away (i.e. stopped). I also like the use of plosive /t/, /b/, /d/ and /p/ sounds in S2 &3 to suggest the blocked breathing and the panicky feeling as the speaker gasps for air. Nice job!
Glenn
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