Cleansing Breath

cleansing breath to wash away
the worries of the world
worries manufactured by
non-sequitur agendas
of the sitting King his Queen and Court
and aspirants thereof

in through the nose slow, long and deep
now linger at the fill
stretching alveoli to surrender all accretions
of the poisons they've insinuated in the atmosphere

out through the mouth with building force
a hurricane to fill their sails
and send the ship of state to ply
seas over the horizon

while in the heady rush of breathlessness
the scales fall from our eyes
we recognize each other and
the primacy of kindness shown
in each and every act.

Inspired by M. Zane McClellan's Ritual of Smoke