To A Cough

You who always bother and pester
my chest, lie somewhere
near my heart. You,
whom I can't

get rid of. But my persistence
in ousting you from my throat
deprives you of getting near
my heart. My friends tell me

that it is you I always utter.
The pain that accompany you
remains with me still.

You are a curse.
I ask you to leave me
but you insist in dwelling.