Taking a breath
Is easier when
I know I will
Have to let it
Out. Will have
time to feel it
in my lungs
before I release it.
But when I know
I will have to hold it
and feel its weight
inside me. I hesitate
to take it in.
best american poetry
Desert
Writhing in the sun
She shrinks
Tries to form her own shadow
To find solace
Her thoughts beat down upon her head
Like an errant trumpet,
Blasting her secrets anew.
Melting like an ice cream cone
Her resolve, her spine
Floating gently now
A sailboat on the sea of acquiescence
She ceases to writhe.
Eileen Maki 