i watched as he breathed in
maelstroms of impositions
into strained lungs and heavy hearts
that could no longer live in
deviance of everything they
knew they didn’t want to do.
but still did.
because resignation
was the only way they knew
how to keep breathing.
but sometimes i wonder
if that’s breathing at all.
if trading in the sanity
of our existence
for societal perceptions
of acceptance
really makes breathing easier.
or suffocates
us even more
within.
( faltering underneath
crippling expectations )
© Hudson Biko
Photograph: Mitchell Hollander
