Breathing art

Ex-inhale

Wise men travel many miles

Wise women sail the seas,

A wise man can fly many days

To find a well-wise tree,

Intellectuals and scholars

Find it so hard to believe,

It’s not about location

It’s about the way you breathe.

The body that wins prizes

Cannot sustain the dream,

The protein and the vitamins

Will never reign supreme,

Every mirror that is made

Is programmed to deceive,

It’s not about the muscles

It’s about the way you breathe.

Sometimes there is confusion

Between the left and right,

Sometimes you’ll find we all look out

When we need insight,

But once you have found balance

It’s easy to conceive,

It’s not about resistance

It’s about the way you breathe.

It’s folly to take simple verse

And make them complicated,

The humble breath does not need words

To be communicated,

When big ideas have come and gone

There is no need to grieve,

It’s not about great speeches

It’s about the way you breathe.

Benjamin Zephaniah 1958 – 2023