One Breath by Kai (16, Massachusetts)

[Content warning: panic attacks]

​One breath
Then one more
Each breath takes me closer to the edge
Between surviving and drowning 
I take three more breaths and I’m there
I find myself stuck for a moment

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Then I cross over the edge 
Suddenly I can’t take any more breaths 
They’ve run out 
There’s pressure in my lungs
My pulse starts racing 
My brain won’t stop thinking 
No matter what I do 
I can’t make it stop 
Instead of fighting it
I let everything overwhelm me
It’s unbearable at first 
Then slowly it gets easier 
My pulse is still racing 
And the pressure is still in my lungs
My entire body is shaking
My mind has gotten louder 
I still can’t fight it
All I can do is let it overwhelm me
It’s still getting easier to bear
But it’s still so painful
Eventually my pulse slows back down
And my mind has gotten quieter 
I’ve stopped shaking 
And I take one breath 
Then one more 
Until next time 
Until next time 

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Kai is 16 years old and a junior at Methuen (MA) High School. They write poems in their free time but don’t have any prior experience relating to getting published. They do a lot of writing for their AP English class and their Creative Writing class.