Looking to Exhale

And it was too late. No one wants
to believe something is too late, but
it is always becoming too late, and
then it is.
—Elizabeth Strout, The Burgess Boys

What do you say
is it too late to mend
what's tattered, too late
to change, pick untried
words, dance
instead of shuffling
What do you say
is it too late
to release
what's held in