Ode to My Breath
O breath, you are with me
even when I sleep—
you fill me, then empty,
expand and contract me;
always and everywhere your
inflation and deflation
are my inspiration—
O breath, you were the first
thing into my mouth at birth
and shall be the last to leave at death,
you have been faithful to me
longest—you stretch
when I am languorous
and contract when I’m afraid;
you hold the space with me
when we are—between
thought and action,
stillness and movement,
invitation and letting go.
O life
you are in all
breathing beings, even the trees
and greens receive what I give,
offer what I lack—a happy dance
of oxygen and dioxide.
O life force, you expand me;
I will be ash and earth
when you have left for good.
I want to count our every coupling—
this/one
in/out
hum/sa—
each inhalation a birthday balloon,
each exhalation its release rising
up/up and away.
O breath, I have had enough
scares to know the fear of losing you;
I have held you too tightly
in my panics,
let you go with she-bear sounds.
O breath, only you
can gather those fears
of our final separation
back to now/here no/where—
in/out
rise and fall—
each/breath the only moment
that is.