Air Poem by Suzette Richards

the air that we breathe -
an intricate part of survival -
reluctantly exhaled
lost in the cauldron of communal breath

we yearn for a world
hidden from troubling delusions
where dreams are cut short
aeroplanes circle in the muggy morning air
while others
for no apparent reason
fall out of the sky
souls ascending
taking their final breaths with them

lost in mid though
as silence swallows the answer …

to their dreams of a world
lost in the bowels of the earth
its unique, virginal ecosystem
leaving one breathless
where thoughts are entwined with the mist
oil on troubled waters
a balm for the soul

diverse as their yearning
for a lost innocence and
as transient as the air that we breathe—
mere illusions …