We Never Learned How To Breathe

Tia 1981 (Baltimore, Md)



I have in my hands a life. Without earning it I was entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining my soul. With no test run I ran. Then slowed down steadily to walk. Then weakly stood. Then began to kneel because I never learned how to breathe.

Breath was thrust into me. And I never learned how to cry. Tears somehow just stained my face. And my heart beats without examples…full of current and to this current I beat base drums to the sound of my own rhythm. But it’s a rhythm that screams.

Asking myself, how do I exit from a world with no doors? How do I find intimacy in a society that’s gone solo; void of answers that open their lips to honesty. Void of a mindset to discontinue dancing in movements and stills and through the movements this world has lost its purpose, so it just keeps on dancing.

I have in my hands a life. Without earning it I was entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining my soul. The space around me has fluidity like oceans but with no water it dehydrates and stops breathing so I stand on dust.

Pound. I want you to pound through the magnetic stronghold that keeps you hostage to cycles of fear and with both eyes facing purpose, find purity within. In spite of a crucifying nation beating its breasts underneath rotting armour wanting power instead of grace because it never learned how to breathe.

No. It never learned how to feel. How to escape the radius of living within supermarket miles, liquor stores and pharmacies seeking medicines to numb the pain. Our hearts beat electric but like wheels our minds keep spinning hectic as we imagine flight but keep our heels dug in to a purpose that will never free us…because we never learned how to breathe.

About this poem

I wrote this poem because I felt disempowered by a lot of the battles I was facing. As I looked at myself I began to see that a lot of people were also just going through the motions. It is my hope that readers will begin to take their power back concerning the things we can control.

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Written on March 07, 2023

Submitted by freespirit0706 on March 07, 2023

Modified on April 05, 2023

1:35 min read
109

Quick analysis:

Scheme A X X X A A
Characters 1,716
Words 318
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1

Tia

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1 Comment
  • Teril
    This poem is amazing- a powerful use of words, of phrases, of images... You are an excellent writer!
    LikeReply 11 year ago
    • freespirit0706
      thank you very much for your compliment!
      LikeReply1 year ago

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"We Never Learned How To Breathe" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/152934/we-never-learned-how-to-breathe>.

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