When My Lungs Burn

By Melinda Delamarter

I see you

You’re standing at the edge of this forest

Terrified

The entire world has already passed through

They’re living their lives on the other side in peaceful bliss

Unaware

Of the terror you go through every morning

Struggling to face the uncertainties that rise up and slap you every second

Unaware

Of the agony it takes for you to crawl out of bed each time the sun rises

Even though you know you’re facing seventeen hours of gut-wrenching pain

I know your anguish, your terrors

You may think I don’t see

But I know

I have heard the tears at three in the morning

The groans emanating from your bed

And I have hurt

For you

I have calmed your fears of all the loud noises I find

Normal

I have been there and soothed you when the world’s chaos has become

Too much

I guess that’s it, isn’t it?

This is why I am

Drained

I’ve spent the last few years of my life struggling to guide

Normality

Out of this box of frightening terrors you have placed it into

You are the scared princess waiting to be

Rescued

I have ridden to your side and saved you

More times than I can count

I am the hero who loves to pull you from

Despair

And make you

Smile

But

In actuality

I am a scared princess myself

I have cried in the dark in

Fear

Terrified of what tomorrow may bring

Scared to fall

Asleep

I am the frightened princess

Exhausted

From the exertion it takes to save you and still concentrate on

Living

I have nearly given up

So many times

I have lost my will to

Survive

For both of us

But

The thought of leaving you

Here

At the edge of this forest

Unsure

Vulnerable

Frightened

It breaks my heart more than the thought of

Freedom

From you

I am broken from this trial

This I fully acknowledge

But

I also feel that I have been given the gifts to

Guide

Love

And be there when the shadows darken your face

So I will hold your hand

Even when my breath is

Short

When my lungs

Burn

And I have lost all sense of rest

Because you are my sister

And I love you

---

Melinda Delamarter is an eighteen-year-old high school senior hailing from the beautiful Pacific Northwest. She has loved reading and writing from an early age, but has really started trying to improve both habits within the last year. One of the chief instruments in this renewed passion is the Young Writer’s Workshop created by Brett Harris and Jaquelle Crowe. She is currently working on a young-adult novel entitled “Dome” about a young woman who lives under the surface of the ocean. When asked the one thing she wants people to see when they see her, she answers, “Jesus.”