Breath by Becky Hemsley

She sat at the back

and they said she was shy,

she led from the front

and they hated her pride.

They asked her advice

and then questioned her guidance,

they branded her loud

then were shocked by her silence.

When she shared no ambition

they said it was sad,

so she told them her dreams

and they said she was mad.

They told her they’d listen

then covered their ears,

and gave her a hug while

they laughed at her fears.

And she listened to all of it

thinking she should,

be the girl they told her to be

best as she could.

But one day she asked

what was best for herself,

instead of trying

to please everyone else.

So she walked to the forest

and stood with the trees,

she heard the wind whisper

and dance with the leaves.

She spoke to the willow,

the elm and the pine,

and she told them what she’d

been told time after time.

She told them she felt

she was never enough,

she was either too little

or far far too much.

Too loud or too quiet,

too fierce or too weak,

too wise or too foolish,

too bold or too meek.

Then she found a small clearing

surrounded by firs,

and she stopped…and she heard

what the trees said to her.

And she sat there for hours

not wanting to leave,

for the forest said nothing

it just let her breathe.