Quiet Breath

I think of people breathing, as I breathe
Across town, across rooms and continents
Oceans, airwaves, satellites and muddy roads
This singular connection of lives disconnected

The common thread of life, lungs moving
Nostrils flared or slim, dependent on the current
of our metered commonality, loosely strung
Inhaling, binding lives and loves, exhaling loss

His breath comes easily, bending over words
Six time zones west, steel canyons support
a dangling cigarette, smoke tears the eyes
that leap and stutter flame across another page

Hers comes quickly, building to cry out the gasp
of sudden holding, momentary breathlessness
Collapsing into arms that once were mine
I hear her even out like a returning tide, eyes wet

Thought scattered like birds circling, each moment
Of remembrance seen from different wings
when only thoughtlessness comes home to roost
and a quiet breath is all there's left to share