Originally posted 8/19/2008.

The natural order: first
we breathe,
then we cry.

Nursing, sleeping,
dreaming, eating,
drinking, elimination — 

the breath is the one constant, 
alternating
between sweet and foul — 

smiling, laughing,
writhing, crawling, walking,
reading, writing, eventually
sex and its attendant foibles;
working,  grieving,
losing, winning,
parenting, 
more of all the above — 

the breathing continues through all 
until it stops for good
when all else does — 

we were built to breathe,
to ride those rails of breath
on a lifelong recovery
from the first sharp cry
after drawing
the ripe tang of the world
into our lungs.

The rest of it, all the rest 
of what we call a life,
is merely a consequence
of breathing — 

we breathe, we cry,
we act, we cry again,
and in the end
when the breathing stops
we fade 
like the whistle of a train
going home.