i've been holding my breath for too long

Why have I been feeling so empty lately?
As if words
Have become trapped inside of me
As if I cannot get them out
As if each breathe inward holds them in

I don't remember the last time I exhaled.

So here it is.

As a white winter snow cleanses the air
And brings a new year upon us,
Despite the grey I feel inside,
There is light
Because my lungs will stop burning
Because my lungs will start breathing
Because I will have you
And because you hold more promise
Than the first breathe of spring
My lungs await.