"Just Breathe": The Writers' Spotlight

Just Breathe

By Sameeha Soora

The pain first started with an ache.
I watched as hope slowly died.
Everyone’s sorrow was bringing them down.
I heard people say, “Just breathe.”
How can I breathe when instead I fall?
This really made me think.

But how could I even think
That somehow this ache
Would still let me breathe?
Soon came the most painful fall.
George Floyd and Breonna Taylor died.
Why must society bring us down?

The loss of social contact keeps bringing us down.
If we all stay smiling and think
That laughter and love hasn’t died,
This horrible, painful ache
Might finally let us breathe.
Then soon came Fall.

It felt nice to know that Mother Nature hasn’t died.
The colorful leaves kept me from feeling down.
But the raging fires made many people fall.
Worrying and worrying wasn’t helping society think
About how we can stop the fires and this ache.
The smoke was caught in the air; how do we breathe?

With barely any air left to breathe,
2020 decided we must deal with another fall.
The elections were loud and kept making us ache.
“Vote!” was what people said, to keep us from being down.
There were times when all I could do was think
About all the laughter and love that had so obviously died.

But after so many people died,
Finally, there was some hope, that allowed us to breathe.
It was making a lot of people think.
The vaccines were bringing smiles, as so many people fall.
Finally, we were looking up, not down.
Is it really gone? This horrible ache?

So many died, and people continue to fall.
But as they say, “Breathe,” and don’t look down.
I think, as the year ends, we are now beyond this ache.

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