BardBliss: First Breath

Last month's full moon.
Today is the full "Cold Moon."

For everyone trying to find their most creative and authentic lives:

First Breath

I stopped holding
my breath yesterday.
I’ve been holding
my breath for thirty
years; my face
was quite blue;
my body stiff
with the effort.

For thirty years, I looked
with envy upon those
who breathed regularly.
Their loose and easy
bodies; their open
and relaxed faces.
The way they drank
oxygen as if it were
free.

But yesterday, I let
go and sucked in
until I thought my belly --
distended from hunger --
would explode
through my shirt;
until my rib cage had
no more elasticity; until
my collar bones almost
touched my chin, and then
I let it out slowly,
for my lungs did not trust
that it would not be
their first and last
taste.

--Christine C. Reed