AVANT SOUL

In truth we're fleeting spirits
   and the wind is blowing

Our time is short, the illusion of tranquillity
Shattered by a plane
   or another gust of wind

In truth we are like vapor so driven
   with appointments and obligations that
   we may miss the morning breeze
   on the face of the waters

Like exhaustion, give me a moment to breathe,
Your Eminence, in truth I am but another
   one of your subjects

Another etheric spirit,
A flash in your dream,
Your atmosphere

Is it getting chilly in here?
These days are flying, streaming,
These brief gusts of air,
   of recognition,
   of giving each other airs and congratulations

And though you may be jammed in traffic
Or bumper-to-bumper with all you have to do
   or say
   or sing
   or whistle
   or cough, or force out
   through clenched and smiling teeth

Biting your tongue or abiding your time

In truth I'm flying through this place,
Just another vision for you to view
When you've hardly got breathing room,
   breathing space, or a breathing spell

For you to feel the wellness of being-

Transfixed to your screen of reality,
In truth you can't see me
And can only capture the shimmering haze
   of your own visage

These days to rest, to regain your breath,
   are trying
   the very core
   of what we came here to realize

Don't breathe a word of this to anyone.

When you have uttered quietly
   and allowed yourself,
   your life,
   your exhalations - even your explanations

   to reach fullness of flavor and aroma

To inhale the ripe heady heartstrong divine
Intoxicating speechless voiceless dazed & amazed
   glory of timelessness, utterly in repose & majesty

In truth to no longer be breathing down your own neck,
To burst free from no breathing room,
To be relaxed and no longer "gaspless" and grasping

   to be relaxed and relieved, especially

After a life of tension, in truth
         these breaths
           all pass so fiercely,
           too quickly,
These moments of meaningless and crowded applause-

And although you may always aspire
To greatness,
Breathless, it's exhausting.

It passes like a blast
   of arctic wind, a reality check
   on the huff-puffery, inflated pastry
   of your flaky, tap-dancing soul,

Its currency is all too fleeting
And you may miss that breathtaking summer day.

Breathe deeply now for your time is short
To capture the changing lines of your face
In the scrim of time

Breathe deeply now, exhale every worry and misbegotten woe
That deprives you of the singular sparkle and shine

Breathe deeply now,
Exhale every worry
   and misbegotten woe
That deprives you of that sparkle and shine

Breathe deeply