All You Need Is

May I breathe?

Did anyone ever tell you

If I may breathe?

I'm so afraid to try it now

For the first time.

They say it is wonderful.

"I do not know

How you have lived so long

And never known,"

You say.

"It feels so splendid,

Air in your lungs--

Like your heart is flying

And wind is rushing

Under its beating wings."

You laugh

And I see it--

The wind in your eyes.

I don't know.

Should I?

I've read about it in so many books

And breathing

Always has its consequences.

"So does living,"

You say.

My empty lungs cry out.

My empty lungs are pleading,

And I think maybe

After all this time

Oxygen was just a metaphor

For love.

You laugh,

Breath bursting from you,

Your gasps 

Pulling the air back toward you.

"Breathe," you say,

The air from your lips

Hot upon my cheek.

I open my mouth

And my heart, firmly planted,

Takes off

And beats

Its wings for the first time

Against the air 

On which it rides.

After all this time,

Love is all I need.