Breath

Inhale: heart beat, eye blink, skin sweat.
Exhale: heart rest, eye still, skin feel.
In with the good, out with the bad;
get what you give, give what you have.
Expand and contract, stabilize,
metabolism regulate;
iris expand, pupil contract,
stretch limbs as far as you can.
The tide rises and the tide falls
as the moon rises, as it sets;
blood surges forth, rich with the air,
systolic, and then diastolic
as the heart rests between the beats,
between the breaths, between the tides.
Inhale: the world rushes forward.
Exhale: everything recedes back.
My brain is constantly churning -
respiration sends air swirling -
I must remain mindful of the
gem in the eye of the lotus,
keeping light on in the attic,
running on all cylinders,
hold contact with the mothership
hold tight the silver cord within.
Every breath within, without,
pours into me, pours out of me,
spilling forth and taking back in,
whole galaxies born and dying.
Breathing connects each of us to
everything in the universe.
Inhale: take me into you, too.
Exhale: always free me again.