Breathing In

There are commas in the script of life.

Days filled with nothing

Hours left unused

Lazy weekends

And the moments just before slipping into sleep

There are spare seconds reserved for breath

Fleeting moments to pause for air

My world tumbles quickly

One hour into another

One task into the next

One thought bleeding into the thought that follows

Until that art of thinking is entirely lost

There are demands

Pressing needs

Of myself and of others

There are responsibilities and promises

I owe too much to this world

I exhaust myself

By trying to lessen the debt

But just as sun-warmed rocks in a fluid stream

Break the current’s constant flow

There are moments where I too

Feel sun on my cheeks

And gulp the air that’s offered

This is breathing

This is the inhale

The pause that I take

Before I can give again