My Encounter with a Fiery Oak

 

Breathe! She shouted to me

as I walked beneath her canopy

of crimson leaves. Why do you hold

 so greedily to one shallow

 breath of life, refusing to let go?

I know that once upon a time

life taught you to be still,

breathe shallow, play dead or

feign sleep,

a useful survival instinct

for possums, rabbits

and frightened children.

Look! It worked.

here you stand, almost alive.

Breathe! She shouted to me,

take a belly breath

even if you must inhale

the poison with the pure.

Now exhale, empty out your lungs,

spew forth your dragon fire.

Let me take the toxins

of lingering memory and fear

deep into my tangled roots,

reaching for quickened streams

of living water to baptize

every demon’s breath.

I will stand beside you,

we are partners you and I,

breathing in, breathing out,

no fear, no hesitation, no holding back.

You are not a small-voiced child,

a slinking possum,

or a rabbit caught in a hunter’s snare.

You are a woman.

Breathe! She whispered,

a low branch brushing

tender across my cheek,

red leaves

dancing like dervishes

as I breathe autumn’s fiery light.

by Merrill F. 
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