“Live the actual moment. Only this actual moment is life.” -- Thich Nhat Hanh

          Breathing

         I heard it once said
         that life is just a series of breaths
         and all that happens between the first and the last
         is the great panorama of existence
         carried forth by the opening and closing of the lungs

         but what if each breath
         is a life unto itself
         trapped in a space of time
         longer or shorter
         depending upon the harried nature of one's soul
        
         the quick frantic breath of the sprinter
         leaving everything out there on the track
         gasping for air
         unaware of what exists in each moment
         slipping by

         the slow lingering breath of the meditator
         pondering existential possibility within the framework
         of the inhale and exhale
         quite cognizant of each life and each death
         born and re-born again
        
         I died once
         right in the middle of a breath
         so one could say I didn't really die
         but it was the longest breath I ever lived
        
         taken from a body
         to a place that chilled me with its warmth
         and gave me just enough insight to know
         that a breath can be an eternity
         if we choose

         Then it was over
         life reborn in the generosity of another
         who happened upon the scene
         breathing life into a body
         ending the longest breath of a deathless death

         And now the whispers of another place
         play upon my mind
         as I breathe ever so slowly
         a moonlit wanderer
        walking side by side
         with eternity and death as companions
         in a world where each moment is full of possibility

(Written by Bob Devine.  This work is freely shared and not for sale)