Redwood
Poetry

Breathe

Meghan Malone

March/May 2022
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Breathing is easy
Breathing is supposed to be easy

When did breathing stop being so easy?
I am supposed to take a breath
They keep telling me to breathe

But how can you when water is filling your lungs
Smoke is burning your throat
And all you can inhale is sand

I am going under
Drowning in my sorrows
Lost in my own despair
I am supposed to take a breath
But how can I
When I cannot remember how

Breathing is easy
They tell me just to breathe
But I am already trying

Trying to breathe through the pain
Through the tears
Through the weight of the world

There are hands
Wrapped around my neck
I try to inhale
But there is no air
I try to scream
But there is no one around to hear me

Swimming to the surface
But never getting any closer
Running out of air
Unable to find any more

I am falling down
Falling down
Falling down
Down

         
Down

                   
Down

All alone
There is no one left but me
No one left telling me to breathe
But I try anyway

In for four
Hold for seven
Out for eight

I open my eyes
There are no more hands
Just my own
I let them drop to my sides
Looking up
I use all that I have
All that I am
And all I will ever be
Kicking to the surface
Fighting for breath
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  • Home
  • Fiction
  • Poetry
  • Emerging Writers
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    • 2021-22
    • 2020-21
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  • About
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