Forgotten Breaths. Poem by Annalee Somerville

I stopped breathing
a long time ago.

Not all at once
just slowly,
over years of bracing,
holding in the hurt,
holding back the screams
holding everything...
so nothing could break.

But something did,
parts of me shattered,
but I did not break...
I still stand.

They tried to take my breath,
my rhythm,
my remembering.

But they did not break my spirit.

Even now,
in the sunlight,
with the birds singing,
and the wind on my face...
I find I'm still holding.

Not because I want to,
because I forgot how to let go
Or maybe...
I forgot how to breathe.

Breathing is hard,
stillness isn't always peace,
it's also captivity.
A waiting room for something
that never came.

But today, I paused,
I touched the place
where the breath used to be.
And I whispered...

Come home.
Even if it's only for one breath
at a time.

And I did.

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