title: Abandoned Breaths: Poetry, Quotes, and Poetic Prose (First Edition)
author:  Alfa 
description: Voted as one of "17 Instagram Poets you need to follow for daily inspiration" Feb, 08 2017 - @alfa.poet -- by Sydney Rappis, Bustle Magazine.<br /><br />Featured in "20 Quotes to live by" - TheOdysseyOnline "She's been through more hell than you'll ever know. But that's what gives her beauty an edge. You can't touch a woman who can wear pain like the grandest of diamonds around her neck."<br /><br />"Abandoned Breaths took my breath away" - Nicole Lyons - Writer. Advocate. Columnist May 6, 2017
zlib_text: **Contents**
  
  > One
  
  > Two
  
  > Three
  
  > Four
  
  > Five
  
  > Six
  
  > Seven
  
  > Eight
  
  > Nine
  
  > Ten
  
  > Eleven
  
  > Twelve
  
  > Thirteen
  
  > Fourteen
  
  > Fifteen
  
  > Sixteen
  
  > Seventeen
  
  > Eighteen
  
  > Nineteen
  
  > Twenty
  
    
  
  > Acknowledgements
  
  > Letter from Author
  
  > An exclusive chapter from NOMAD
  
  > About the Author
  
  > Copyright
  
   _For all those who fight to hold the line for freedom and reason._
  
   _This book is dedicated to the memory of my father, Terrance Swallow_
  
   **ONE**
  
  The panic filled him. It was fluid and heavy, choking his lungs and pooling in
  the pit of his stomach, weighing him down. As Lex walked, the hazy, midday air
  turned into a tidal drag and his knees weakened. He had to stop to catch his
  breath, so he lurched toward a pharmacy closed for the siesta, ducking out of
  the high sun and into cooler shadows.
  
  He hid there for a few moments, trying to moderate the fear and failing. He
  ran a hand through the hair framing his corn-fed features. His haunted,
  terrified eyes blinked behind