in-hale-elah-xe

if you listen carefully, you will soon notice her breath comes in waves.
late summer restless ocean waves.
as if all the weight of the world rests in her lungs.
and as if for a few moments all the energy of her body mingles around her neck.

it wasn't all the time like this.
she used to breathe in and out like normal people do.
but then she became engaged with pleasing her anxieties
and forgetting to constantly breathe.

you see, she breathes only 23 times a day.
she is not interested in allocating more time or thought for breathing.
that would be too wasteful and meaningless.

but breathing should not even be an activity to even think about.
wasn't breath supposed to happen instinctually and effortlessly?
not in her case, no.

you see, oceans are too far away for her to visit as much as she needs.
breathing like oceans makes her feel closer to them.

wouldn't she be breathing more often is she were to move closer to the ocean?
maybe. but then she'd probably start breathing like the forest.

it just takes time, you see. getting the ocean closer to the forest.
breathing makes it easier.

waves of blue and waves of green.
make her shine, and smile, and spin.