I am kicking, holding my breath. I can see the light on the surface of the water, I know it’s there. I can reach beautiful oxygen if I try hard enough. But my lungs burn. I keep kicking. With but a few meters left, I release my held breath.

Kick.

Jacob Meadows is a poet, researcher, and author of the upcoming collection of poetry, SHADES. A trained dancer and educator, Jacob has spent the last four years honing the craft of writing poetry and prose, finding his voice, and advocating for the LGBTQ+ community. He has both an MA in Creative Writing and an MA in English from Southern New Hampshire University where he studied postcolonial, feminist, and queer theories as well as autoethnography. Jacob spends his free time reading and dancing, his first two loves.