First breath, best breath.
I don’t mean anything by that.

Shale over shale.
I concentrate on acts

to keep from repeating
words in my head.

I sit up and copy them
in bed.

“So, so glad
I’m not doing that.

So glad I’m not
the one doing that.”

These waves slide over
gray shingled sand.

One covers another
as the first draws back.

Best breath, first breath.