No Body Else but Yours
By
Jennifer Angelina Petro
Listen, trees
breathe you
breath drawn
from roots,
drawn from darkness,
that, in turn,
breathe the earth
cradled in arms
that spiral stars
with revolutions
of joy.
The next time
you feel wind
on your face,
know you are dear
to the heart
of the world;
how you are
touched
with eternity
breathed
from lungs
of love and sighs,
that are, in turn,
born from a longing
for nothing more
than a glance
that is no body
else’s but yours.
Mondegreen
By
Jennifer Angelina Petro
The wind said something
that mixed with the hum
of bees and distant lawn mowers.
What it said may have sifted through.
It may have touched my ever-listening.
Standing on the road, searching
the sky, I watch the way
trees sway and wave,
and a pause descends, like
a wish, except palpable, like
a sigh.
The message means
to find my spirit—wind woven
with wind. It seeks me, like
the fragrance of freesia seeking
the bee.
There is work to be done. I know
that much. What it is
is a ribbon drifting, lifting away.
So many missteps have befallen
the road. So many turns missed.
So many dead ends, which, in all
actuality, do not exist. Nevertheless,
I strive to listen, to get it right. To breathe
what the wind said, hoping
the message will nuzzle its way
through my body, caressing
desire, and once again guide my steps
to many unexpected
blessings.
Touching Souls
By
Jennifer Angelina Petro
Wherever you are
Stop reading these words in your head for a moment
And speak them out loud.
Say, “wind,” and, “breath,” and, “spirit.”
Know this:
Breath carries sounds of words,
Wind carries them even further,
And all of it all borne on wings of spirit.
Put another way:
Words travel, like wind
Becoming us, like breath
Enlivening us, like spirit
Sharing us because.
Try these:
“Listen,”
Try, “lemonade,”
Try, “wish.”
Resonances come whether or not anyone
Repeats them out loud after you;
Faces lift and brighten,
Steps slow and lighten,
Some look up frightened.
Know this:
You touched souls
With the kind of inner refreshment
That only living wind and spirit feathers can bring,
You brought ideas, held in sound, held in life,
And the world will never be the same,
And neither
Will you.