to breathe is the easiest thing
simple physics, the path of least resistance
inhale, exhale
it’s the easiest thing until it isn’t
“I can’t breathe”
a nasal voice asserts
as a customer defiantly pulls her mask down
under her nose
but the resident couldn't breathe
gulping in air between panicked sobs
steeling herself to intubate another patient
who would die alone and robbed of breath
and he couldn't breathe, only 45
"tell my family I love them"
as the virus stole
his voice, his dignity, his breath
“I can’t breathe,” he choked
his voice betraying his panic
as the state’s knee crushed his neck
and a community was robbed of another life, another breath
and America
caught in a collective inhalation
in a day, a lifetime, November’s decision
as we reckoned with who we are, who we've always been, who we should be
“I can’t breathe”
she gasped between fits of laughter
as we reveled in a rare moment
of lightness, reclaiming our joy
“I can’t breathe," she gasped
signaling to her friends to slow down
not realizing that summiting a mountain
would not be so easy
and she couldn't breathe
as she marveled at the vista
its silence, its beauty
taking her breath away
the complexity of breath
to be stolen in moments of awe
and moments of panic
and moments of resistance
and moments of exaltation
will not be forgotten as we hope and pray
that to breathe will once again become
the easiest thing
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