Inhale.
Puff.
Exhale.
My head and heart beat in somber harmony. They try their best to match Labrinth’s melancholy; “Jealous”y infiltrates my soul.
“I’m jealous of the rain” Drops as they lands on my face. At that moment, their cycle ends. It ends so fast, in fact, I could only envy them. The lives of RainDrops serve only as a reminder of my relative immortality. I am not predisposed to die so instantaneously. And who’s to say my body will serve a purpose as great as the Drops will when they assist the statues of nature in decorating the sky.
I can only pray that god will repay me for his mockery in my design. For making my life so much longer and complicated than any of the Drops that surround me.
Maybe I should go back inside.
Published by Enoch Naklen
Enoch Naklen is an arts and culture writer for Our Time Press and Bed-Stuy Villager, and a full-time student studying journalism and marketing at CUNY Baruch College. He is also an independent digital marketer, producing comprehensive visual storytelling reels for nonprofit organizations and artists rooted in the collective Black experience. A journalist with over six years of professional experience, Naklen has published work in The Nation, New York Amsterdam News, Chalkbeat New York, and Our Time Press. His reporting and cultural coverage include major events such as CultureCon, the Gracie Mansion mayoral parade, and the 2024–25 Black Boy Art Show. He has collaborated with longtime youth advocate Shawn Dove and the educational nonprofit Education Through Music, and is currently a film fellow in the Young Griots Storytelling Film Fellowship.
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