Poetry

Come Out and Breathe

GiaB prompt #14: being in nature

It only takes one turn of the knob, a flick of the wrist, and yet I forget how much I miss you.

The effort — the pull from to-do and undone — to walk down, to open the door, to accept your invitation

to the tranquil party, the predictable cycles, the enrapturing gala that surrounds me

even here, even always.

I will do it. I will open the door. I will push through the bars of my own making.

I will watch and listen and smell and

breathe.

Hello, brown bunny scampering for cover — don’t be shy. Hello, red cardinal singing on repeat— don’t stop for me. Hello, earthy scents wet from the rainfall — I breathe you in. And you, sweet droplets — fall on me, please.

Help me breathe.

I find that what I often need in times of stress is just a few moments outside my house — outside myself. Thanks, Victor Sarkin, for the prompt. Thanks for tagging me, Susan Sagarin. Tagging three inspiring Melissas: Melissa Speed, Melissa Coffey, Melissa Bee, as well as two other great writers: Carolyn Hastings and Venessa Yeh.