i feel like i live most of my life trying to break through
breathe that one full breath
that you find coasting down a gentle hill
sun setting over the mountains
rice swaying in the paddies
birds flying overhead
you just take your hands off the bars
lay em behind your head
look straight up at the orange sky
or the one you find
underground, in a practice room
clanging at a grand piano
pedal down, sustaining every tone
and your voice flows out free
like a foreign being -
you never knew you had
something that beautiful
inside, you let go and you feel
like all this time you’ve been breathing
sand
or the one you find
when the sun’s out for the first time
all day, in the afternoon
after a heavy storm has lifted
you can see the black clouds
rolling away
the world’s wet, full of water
and color, saturated,
the air’s crystal clear
you can see for miles,
the islands way off the coast.
mist rises off the leaves of plants
drops fall off the branches of trees
onto your forehead.
or the one you find
in a foggy zen temple garden
a carpet of moss on everything
rich, heavy wood odor
maples leaves blown by the brreeze
a tea house
with a round window
a small rowboat in the pond
stillness
a fountain trickling
you feel alive.