Breathe Poem by Iyanu Adebiyi

Since when did dreams begin to grow mouths
With which they say to humans
What makes you think you can do these things?
They collapseinside of hearts, unrealized
Throwing up failure, purging fear,
Convulsing impossibilities, asking;
Who are you to make us live?

I come from an ancestry of believers.

In our town, a woman does not bury
Her dream if he dies while she is still alive.
She drags his corpse with all her strength,
Pinches his nose and screams into his mouth.
Says, look into my eyes. I give you life.
Now, breathe.

Dreams are only questions searching for answers.
When questions become more than answers,
Only cowards run to bury their dreams.
For there are always enough answers in the human soul.
We are always enough for every dream we conceive.

These dreams know us; they chose us -
We are their answers.

So, when they ask you,
What makes you think you can do these things?
Say, I just can.
And when they ask you,
Who are you to make us live?
Say, I just am.

In Asorona, a woman does not bury her dreams
If he dies while she is still alive.
She drags his corpse with all her strength,
Pinches his nose and screams into his mouth.
Says, look into my eyes, I give you courage.
Now, breathe.