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Breathe: Poems
Written between 2012 and 2020, these 39 poems find joy in the midst of challenge and beauty in the commonplace.
- GenresPoetry
Paperback
First published January 1, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 28, 2021
So pleased to have discovered Lynn Ungar's poetry last spring and to have received this chapbook titled BREATHE. Such a potent word in 2020, and she expresses those different elements in her titular poem.
Breathe, said the wind
How can I breathe at a time like this,
when the air is full of the smoke
of burning tires, burning lives?
Just breathe, the wind insisted.
Easy for you to say, if the weight of
injustice is not wrapped around your throat,
cutting off all air.
I need you to breathe.
I need you to breathe.
Don’t tell me to be calm
when there are so many reasons
to be angry, so much cause for despair!
I didn’t say to be calm, said the wind,
I said to breathe.
We’re going to need a lot of air
to make this hurricane together.
There's also a timeliness to others like "Yo-Yo Ma Plays Bach at the Border". Those, like "Hard Cider," are timeless and some, like "Ukulele" and "Potluck," offer new ways to consider theology. I expect that this is a collection I'll want to read again and again.
Breathe, said the wind
How can I breathe at a time like this,
when the air is full of the smoke
of burning tires, burning lives?
Just breathe, the wind insisted.
Easy for you to say, if the weight of
injustice is not wrapped around your throat,
cutting off all air.
I need you to breathe.
I need you to breathe.
Don’t tell me to be calm
when there are so many reasons
to be angry, so much cause for despair!
I didn’t say to be calm, said the wind,
I said to breathe.
We’re going to need a lot of air
to make this hurricane together.
There's also a timeliness to others like "Yo-Yo Ma Plays Bach at the Border". Those, like "Hard Cider," are timeless and some, like "Ukulele" and "Potluck," offer new ways to consider theology. I expect that this is a collection I'll want to read again and again.
May 7, 2022
Published in 2020, an earlier collection of poems, again many thought-provoking as she looks at little moments from different angles. Justice and self-care are among many themes.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews