They Tell Me to Breathe - May 17 2024

 

They Tell Me to Breathe

May 17 2024

This feeling of expectancy.

Of something impending

being on edge.

Not sure when

or even what

I’m so anxiously waiting for.

Is it the air,

somehow charged

electric

all pent-up,

that the minus and plus

can be kept apart

for only so long?

If only the calm would break

and this waiting be over.

If only I knew

when and what.

They tell me to breathe

in through my nose

all the way,

then slowly exhale

through an open mouth

until I’m all emptied out.

To compose my mind

cede control

surrender to fate.

But all I feel

is my heart race

jaw tense

thoughts scatter.

The endless before,

unknowable after.