It’s pixels, miniscule dots of light 
emitting color to transfix your eyes 
and vex your thoracic cavity. 

It’s a mirage, a brilliant lake 
in a desert of desolation, blurred
lines of reality shimmering. 

Please, close your eyes. 
Take the light and the lines
inside the blackness behind 
your lids. Let them fade. 

Please, close your mind. 
Take the longing intensity 
into the hollowness of 
your heart. Let it calm. 

When shapes press into 
your darkness and you feel
the rattling of oxygenation, 
breathe deeply. Take in air. 

Know your hope is time, 
and your path, onward. 
Your salvation is breath.