Running Under Water

By Talya Hammerman

'Running Under Water' is a book of love, loss, heartbreak, building, and self-discovery.

Each poem can be crafted and tailored to the reader’s experiences and every word is written with the same intent: to make you reflect.

Each poem serves to be a looking glass into the mind and thoughts of the modern teenager.

'Running Under Water' is not just another poetry book, it is a book of the breaking and growth you experience throughout adolescence.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Talya Hammerman
• Release date: May 31, 2021
• ISBN: 9781948997508

Book preview

1

Poem 1

Sometimes i feel like

i’m running a race under water.

---

I am cold,

drowning,

and i can’t catch my breath.

---

There is no life guard,

the water keeps coming,

and i can barely open my eyes to realize

that i’m getting nowhere.

---

i look around at everyone else

through blurry, stinging vision,

and i see them all

gliding through the water so effortlessly,

---

at that point,

i am only left to wonder

how they’re doing it.

---

finally,

i stop trying to run,

unground my feet,

and then i realized

i started to swim.

2

Poem 2

imagine yourself as a metal key

---

you can unlock many mysteries when in the right hands.

you’re sharp, rough along the edges, sometimes you even shine.

others’ words can be engraved into you if their meaning is significant.

you rust when exposed to substances you don’t have chemistry with.

it may take a while for someone to find you, and you may get lost a couple of times, but in the end, you are what keeps everyone from running themselves into walls.

---

you open doors for people.

3

Poem 3

the marred appearance

of one’s perceived reflection

shall no longer be considered

a blemish to themself nor society

for

nothing in nature is created to be ugly.

---

life is about connection,

not imperfection.

4

Poem 4

humans are liquids

though not literally, of course.

---

think of it like this:

when kept contained

we manage to mentally fill the space

we don’t physically take up.

whether it be with our