When I am lonely, I breathe
to remember that I am more than me.
In
Out
This gentle, tidal exchange
of oxygen for carbon
on the surface of my lungs
blurs my egoic boundaries.
Where do I end?
Where does air begin?
I am wholly porous and full of holes.
This body suffuse with oxygen
and empty space filled
with what is not me.
This gaseous being binds me
through a Great Chain of Molecules
to trees, grasses, weeds, and algae;
roots, soils, worms, and mycorrhizae.
Sunlight for sugar.
Carbon for oxygen.
Everything for practically nothing.
I breathe
Out and
In.
I’m reminded that I am more than me.
And I will never be lonely so long as I breathe.
