Breathe

When I could bare to stand naked
Your eyes on me for a first time
I prayed for the best
Crossed my fingers for you to be
More like a seeker catching her breath
Struck silent upon a peak in Darien
Than repulsed by a single-eyed ogre in its lair
And blessedly your look affirmed I was bearable

I honored you with my stunned gaze
The glow of minted gold
As close to a first sunrise
After the long frozen night
Of our separate childhoods
Existence of each other unknown
Until fate spun her wheel
And at the ultramarathon’s end
I collapsed across the finish line
Into a stranger’s arms near death
And she breathed life into me

You were the first and I wonder
When I lost touch with you
Sometimes I feel as if I began
The second race I’m still running
Long and hard and breathless