so glad im still able to nominate this!

This poem is wonderful... The language, the phrases you've used, it's all just so delicate and beautiful. The way we tell everyone they're going to be okay, they'll recover, is so clear and powerful in this. I've read this at least six times now! Amazing :)

This is brilliant. It has a really powerful voice of its own,one of encouragement and care which I could instantly hear and feel.

This did it:
'soul'
my
lifted
poetry
your

You know, I thought your last piece made me emotional, but this did even more. It's something I could find in a poetry book, flip to it, and just be overwhelmed with this feeling of being heard, of being anchored so to speak, of being comforted. Your word choice in this carries such compassion, care and meaning. That, as much as we may feel like we are drowning and we can't possibly survive this, a voice is reminding us to check our surroundings. Feel the ripples, acknowledge our breath, know that we are still capable of floating. Of fighting.

What I appreciate the most in the poem is the gentleness.

"you’re just learning
how to float
in waters that forgot
what buoyancy felt like"

- These lines are filled with a tenderness that makes my heart ache. Because, we can be at any age and still be learning how to "float", how to deal with a recent or an old trauma, how to process our grief and everything weighing us down. And all we need is to be treated with kindness and patience. It's not an immediate thing we can simply jump up from and be unaffected.

We ARE affected by life and suffering and sometimes, we need others to hold our hand or be that voice that softly reminds us we CAN keep going.

Love this beyond words. Thank you, Star <3

Really really lovely Star!

Really connected to something deeper for me and it shook me. Was not expecting that. Keep up the amazing job!
-Katrynn

Loved this! A great reminder that panic can't kill you, as long as you breathe!