That's a beautiful piece, MaryAnne.
I felt like suffocating in the beginning, and like there was thick air surrounding my breath as I reached the very end. You just nailed this!!!

A really powerful poem, not sure where to begin. I am amazed by the language you used to describe things such as : unedifying
grief,oppressive day, scorched voice. These are words you very rarely come across in poems which makes your origanality stand out.

your first stanza is very powerful, drawing you in to read.

It was on that oppressive day
that I found you, inches away from
leaning on my shaking shoulder,
inches away from breaking down
and crushing any hope
you had hidden.

- I liked this stanza as it reminded me of the times in friendship when one needs another and they reach out for you. The words " crushing any hope " are the ones which jump out at me. You know what that feels like when your hope is crushed and can relate to this.

: Though your lungs push air
in and out, with an effort to remind
you that you must never give up,
I see you as lifeless as I have felt-
like no one tries to understand
the way you act

- again I liked this stanza a lot and I got the feeling of being so depressed and hopeless that you feel like a mere existance and not a living being which you have described so well with your words.

I liked the way you ended the poem, still holding the power and not just drifting off from the subject.

Your title holds as much power as the poem which is good, and the title alone says so much which we can all relate to.

An overall great poem and I dont think I would have anything to change. well done.