A Second Thought<\/p>\n
By<\/p>\n
Jennifer Angelina Petro<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
You have been with me<\/p>\n
Since the beginning<\/p>\n
Even though<\/p>\n
I no longer remember<\/p>\n
The first time<\/p>\n
You filled me,<\/p>\n
Sending me wailing<\/p>\n
From the initial revelation.<\/p>\n
From that moment<\/p>\n
Until now–<\/p>\n
I have rarely given you<\/p>\n
A second thought.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
You enter, touching my nose,<\/p>\n
And lips, and then<\/p>\n
Filter through me,<\/p>\n
Spreading life, only to then<\/p>\n
Disappear into my cells.<\/p>\n
You make my chest rise and fall,<\/p>\n
Ebb and flow, enlivening me<\/p>\n
Over and over,<\/p>\n
Again, and again,<\/p>\n
Moment after moment,<\/p>\n
Year after year,<\/p>\n
And you do so largely<\/p>\n
In relative silence and secret.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I think of you when I feel<\/p>\n
The need to catch you,<\/p>\n
Or hold you, or focus<\/p>\n
On you for a guided meditation,<\/p>\n
Or watch you ghost out<\/p>\n
Of my mouth in winter.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
You shimmer through me,<\/p>\n
I know you are there,<\/p>\n
I want you to stay,<\/p>\n
Even though one day<\/p>\n
You will sail out of my body<\/p>\n
For good, onto the billowing winds,<\/p>\n
To gently, unobtrusively,<\/p>\n
Fill the body of another\u2014<\/p>\n
Another who will,<\/p>\n
In all likelihood, hardly ever<\/p>\n
Give you a second thought.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
So here, now,<\/p>\n
I think of you in as full<\/p>\n
Consciousness as I can muster,<\/p>\n
I feel you filling my every<\/p>\n
Cell and vein with kindness.<\/p>\n
Thank you for being<\/p>\n
My friend, my guide,<\/p>\n
My most intimate companion<\/p>\n
On my journey<\/p>\n
Of letting you go.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n