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 young man

poisoned by a toxic drug supply

and generations of trauma and loss

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

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 just to breathe

right now

just breathe

- Dzung X. Vo, MD

  May 29, 2020