just breathe from the Plum Village community
i can’t breathe
said George Floyd
the knee of four hundred years of racism
on his neck
i can’t breathe
said the woman with fear
in her eyes
her lungs attacked by coronavirus
as she was put onto the ventilator
i can’t breathe
said the nurse, exhausted
after a long shift
sweating under a hot surgical mask
and foggy goggles
i can’t breathe
said the one hundred thousand
dead americans
a nation
and a world
in mourning
i can’t breathe
said cities choked in smoke
from a planet on fire
i can’t breathe
said the earth
suffocating under a blanket
of carbon emissions
breathe my dear
said the buddha of our time
reminding us of the way
to love and healing and transformation
breathe my dear
said the beloved community
grieving
and waking up together
breathe my dear
said mother earth
and let my oceans, mountains,
and forests embrace you
right now
when it seems so hard to breathe
right now
just breathe
- from the Plum Village community
