Nancy Calhoun

Catching My Breath

wrecked on a beach
washed over by tidal
cycles, starfish in my hair
silken strands of seaweed
slip beneath my head
the effort to move
too great

depleted, used up,
worn down
hope expired,
catastrophe and monotony
drain the pool of energy
that nourishes

pinned down by gravity,
lodged in the surging
deluge I search for reprieve
where can I go to breathe?
a moth with sodden wings
unable to rise, barely sentient.

I think I may slip to the brink,
then, the sky is gone mad
with light and music
that lies unbidden
in the crater of my heart
compels what remains
of my passion to push
up the hill to the face
of the mountain
where fear goes to die

pausing in the deep shadow
where the wind blows
across my wings, I feel
my lungs begin to fill
with the sweet calm air of peace
I am, at last, home
where everything has changed
but nothing is different.

—From Sip Wine, Drink Stars


CP

After several years as a business executive, opera singer, and general seeker-after-enlightenment, Nancy Calhoun has found her calling as a poet. Her first collection is entitled Sip Wine, Drink Stars and is available here, along with more about her and her work. Nancy lives in southeast Arizona’s wine country, and writes beside a panoramic view of mountains, grasslands and wildlife.