When Breath Becomes Air

I watch from behind as your breath makes its journey

leaving a note of strength in each stop.

I see your shoulders raise then drop

as if they’re dancing to an old waltz

in your house of memory

Your breath carries you swiftly

to the stainless, steel, antiseptic territory

that was once your intellectual playground.

Another in and out, this time a bit heavier

In the face of oblivion, you speak to the wind

in hopes to redeem a piece of identity

that has been 

/ stripped down / scrubbed away / no more / no less / than

three lines inked in the stainless, steel, antiseptic territory.

--

Let me redeem your identity

when your breath becomes air.

The same air that comes in the prime of spring

circulates through my veins

where my legacy carries your legacy

‘til I return to you

some day

when my breath becomes air.