Respirator

My first, hopefully ONLY, experience with a respirator.  

I know
Sometimes it's necessary
But with a tube
We can not speak
When our hands are tied
We can not write
The words stay hidden.
Unspoken.
Unwritten.
Still there.
Others may speak in.
We may not speak
Out.
I may need
To speak for years
To recover
From the three day episode
With the tube
Just enough sedative
To hear.
Not speak.
Not write.