23,000

We breathe on average
23,000 times a day

but our things each breathe
once
over the course
of their lifetimes

We do not notice
usually
that it is happening
their respiration
does not depend
on our noticing it
but
the guitars and horns
in their cases
and weapons in holsters
are in perpetual stir around us

We imagine the anima of the graphic crucifix
inhaling and exhaling
on the nail on the wall

but now contemplate the original wood
flavored with his blood

Did its breathing speed up and slow down
as he struggled upon it
or
did it remain
steady throughout

and do the remaining
possibly false remnants we revere
as relics of that moment today
breathe still?

The things we think of
as not alive
do not care what we think of them
do not care how we use them

23,000 self important breaths a day
Vibrations in the larger sacrament
Flavor and no more