breathing underwater has become a learned activity

those that you know but you never grasp fully

and if you do not hold it properly

it will

s
      l
              i  
                 p

from your grasp,

t
                                u
            m
             ­            b
l
                                             i
                   n
g

back to the arid land

that is my chest.


*

everyday I relearn the art

of breathing underwater

some days are more successful than others

others I drown in my relentless tears

others still, I succumb to the numbness in my leaded limbs

following blindly the static in my vision