Have you held your breath

A poem

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Have you held your breath

Photo by J K

Suspended in salty blue tones
limbs rise calmly
as you sink so methodically 
one would think
you danced purposefully,
your circular pull
interprets the moment
and eyes forced open
as your out breath
rises to the surface,
hundreds of Jupiters
replenish the sea,
heart beats
a base drum
that layers onto
the ethereal shimmer
of sun pierced synthesized waves
receding above as
understanding settles in you
the way sea settles
into your lungs
and melody settles 
into your hopes 
resting here
on the ocean floor.

You know how to breathe here,
underwater all becomes clear 
as there is only one thing,
one thing that breathes us in
and you become breath,
no need to grasp
for rescue above
and fire in the lungs
is another pain transformed
that smolders and steams
as it slips from your lips,
and eyes follow the smoke
as it spins in ascent
through blue things unseen.

And there is nothing to see
nothing to see,
and nothing to be
nothing to be,
and nothing to breathe
nothing to breathe.

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Thank you for reading! What strikes you, speaks to you, or stirs in you while you read this piece? I look forward to whatever dialogue happens here, and as always, I will be following up with a Reflection essay on how this poem emerged into being.

Brian

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