when you exhale

i. naturally,

the world's systems keep.
orbits continue and
opportunities leap
from your fingertips.
seas reach new depths and
breezes preside over quiet eves.


ii. softly,

the worship rushes
and the portraits flush
in virgin cheeks.
the night does settle
about your collar
and all the squalor of the earth
is ceased.


iii. rapidly,

i can't keep up
and the dancing accelerates
without speaking.
the dawn of feelings nocturnal
speeding abnormal
and leaving us both
as wreckage.


iv. completely,

i cannot breathe.