2017 Poetry & Storytelling Competition Volume 2 | Page 21

My Breath

Finalist: Dalia Shvartsman

Harrisburg Academy

Sometimes,

I wonder why

Sounds evoke such strong emotions.

I feel

Such an intense urge

To determine if what I feel

Really exists

A warm tear finds its way down my cheek

Slowly melting

Blends with my skin

I walk barefoot on my carpet

With the sunlight peeking through

I push against the warm soft ground

As I rise to my tiptoes

Reaching for my violin

Which hangs lonely by my bedroom window.

I tune my strings to perfect fifths, making

Sounds

The breathing of time

Creating transient ripples through space

It seems to me a paradox

How we feel more in control of the past and future

Than we ever could in

The present moment;

I feel it fleeting

What an obscure concept

I breathe In-

and Out.

I hear the light hum of my presence;

I feel like a child

Determined to catch a butterfly

Is it conceited that we think value exists in only

What we can touch? -

Something unchanging as dates go by

Something permanent

Still

The emotions that both evoke

Do not differ

So what makes one more real than the other?

Finding the present moment

Is rare

And perplexing

As you uncover the ever-changing

Yet stable presence

Of yourself