I Take my Place

I stop looking at.
I close my eyes
and know my participation.
Being within the scene.
Just another earthling,
with the waves, and the bells, and the birds.

Each inhale comes on its own,
a gift of life.
Then I sail
my whole self out,
on the exhale, into space—
releasing everything

into the Void,
all of me becoming
All.
The pause, then. Its freedom.
Before
(if it comes), the next gift.

On behalf of all beings,
I give gratitude
for breathing.
For physicality,
for the astounding endowment
of phenomenal form.

I take my place
within the sounds
of waves, and bells
and birds.
I sit beneath the plum tree.
I take my place, I rest, in my place.

©Susa Silvermarie 2023