In the end
the things we’re asked to know
are the same things stones know
as they absorb their daily thermal load
and then release it slowly to the night,
a breathing that befits their time —
long and steady and calm

And what we’re asked to know
is what trees know
as they embrace the standing wave of energy,
toroidal cycling
of air and light and water,
breath of the forest, sweet and pure

We’re asked to know
the things our breathing teaches
in the constant ebb and flow
and in the depth it reaches
and the way we’re woven
into one complete design,
breath of our days,
earthbound, divine.

©Wendy Mulhern
January 24, 2014