Seventh Night

 breath becomes light

                          for my son david

before you knew the depth of breath 

you knew the depth of words

words that were written on lined paper

scrawled, hard to decipher

paragraphs typed on copy paper

with words crossed out and new words

added to clarify a meaning, to get it right

to describe the way the ball took flight

to recount the actor’s ability to inhabit a role

to describe the luminosity of a painting 

words were a gift of the universe

honed by the inhale and exhale of breath