-- Forgetting to Breathe --

John Herlihy

We breathe without thinking,

We don’t have to ask.

Automatically, like blinking,

Just keeping up with the task.

A habit we need not remember,

As wrong-doing can produce regret.

Years long, January to December,

Still, occasionally, breathing I forget.

One moment – between breaths – an interlude,

The habitual response seems to be gone.

I must think what to do as prelude,

To draw in living breaths in life’s glorious song.

I feel the rush of an alien panic,

A momentary sense of impending end.

My heart in my throat, feeling manic,

Inducing emotions that I cannot pretend.

This now brings me to my point,

We never think of the importance of breath.

This inflow of life force our days to anoint,

From the time of our birth to the time of our death.

Our breath comes in fits and starts, erratic,

We never pay attention this, whatever we do.

Wandering aimless, pitching tents, nomadic,

Just as birds rely on the wind when they flew.

They rhythm of our breathing is out of our control;

The breathing itself becomes thoughtless and shallow.

The life force adrift from the moorings of our soul,

Leaving behind the impression of a humanity hollow.

Breath control can become a first step into the interior,

The establishment of a rhythm of breathing, in and out.

The making of a person now more in control, superior,

The breath-soul-spirit in the house of the body, devout.

Sit cross-legged on the ground and close the eyes,

Shuttering out the world to enter a world within.

Concentrate on the breath, a sacred rhythm to devise,

Breathe in for six, hold for three, based on focus, not whim.

Within the span of five minutes, the breathing controlled,

Six in, hold for 3, six out, hold for three, with deliberate effect.

Never in my imagination did I attempt my breath to hold,

As in touching the light, to capture the life force with effect.

The effort of rhythmic breathing leads down an unknown trail,

A journey into the interior of self, thru an act of control and will.

To explore this unknown interior with the deliberation of a snail,

Leading to a heightened consciousness, based on effort and skill.

Eyes closed, silence profound, no telling where or when,

Sitting at peace in an inner room, behind a closed door.

Breathing for the first time, breathing again and again,

As if no one had ever breathed like this ever before.

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I (c) John Herlihy 23 July 2020