Breathe - program note
Commissioned by the Canadian Mennonite Bible College class of 1970 for its 50th reunion in 2020.
I was drawn to Ungar's poem as the perfect text for this commission, since the poem was a call for community effort to address ills that surround us, ills in which we are often implicated knowingly and unknowingly, despite centuries of well-meaning effort. The relevance of the text was deepened when I learned about the genesis of the poem, after contacting Ungar for permission to use it. The poem was written in remembrance of Eric Garner, who died on July 17, 2014, after a New York City Police Department officer put him in a chokehold while arresting him. That knowledge added a profound layer of meaning to the words for me.
Then, on May 25, 2020, less than a month after the composition was completed, the killing of George Floyd – again by violent asphyxiation – rocked the news and led to wide-spread protests. The agonizing truth is that neither of these incidents was exceptional; they remain representative of a deep, deep need for a healing wind that will address the disparities, inequities, and violence that is still the daily bread of our world. This composition is a call to come together and, in Ungar's words, participate in this hurricane of healing.
Breathe
Breathe, said the wind
How can I breathe at a time like this,
when the air is full of the smoke
of burning tires, burning lives?
Just breathe, the wind insisted.
Easy for you to say, if the weight
of injustice is not wrapped around your throat,
cutting off all air.
I need you to breathe.
I need you to breathe.
Don’t tell me to be calm
when there are so many reasons
to be angry, so much cause for despair!
I didn’t say to be calm, said the wind,
I said to breathe.
We’re going to need a lot of air
to make this hurricane together.
-Lynn Ungar http://www.lynnungar.com
used by permission