Spring 2020 Ode to Breathe

Spring 2020 Ode to Breathe

Poem that relates to the overwhelming events of the past week, but also historical nature, and the black experience during Covid 19 and meditative breathe and the importance of breathing with a respiratory infection like Covid 19. Yet the image of an officer taking the breathe away from an unarmed victim due to the historical nature of hatred and racism in our country, the anti-racism work and how long it takes for change to happen.

Marian Evans

2020-06-01

Poem

Spring 2020: Ode to Breathe

I'm exhausted, down-right bone tired
It is just beyond me right now
Breathe in (1,2,3,4), Hold, Breathe Out
Coronavirus-“I can’t breathe”
Ventilators?
Quarantining, social distancing, people distancing
Death and Destruction
Covid-19-Masks
Breathe
Slavery to Modern day lynching
Protest, anti-racism
New Normal
Undoing racism
Allies, Advocates, Caucuses
“I can’t breathe”
Packed in ships, bottles, syringes
Vaccines, Post-convalescence
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble
When will it stop? How do I make it stop?
Contact tracing-“I can’t breathe”
Breathe
Will it ever change? Has it ever changed?
Is there herd immunity from racism?
“I can’t breathe”
Breathe in (1,2,3,4), Hold, Breathe out
By Marian Evans