Learning How To Breathe Poem by Delwen Doyle

Your kisses still burn on my lips
Your voice still echoes in my ears

I still feel the traces of your fingertips
& Your hot breath caught in my hair

I know I have to come to grips:
I’ll never be told the words I wish to hear

You’re that something I need
A something no longer there

So I’m learning how to breathe -
How to breathe without air

It’s the way the stars don’t shine
The way the sky stays gray

It’s the way I want to make you mine
When you’ve already drifted away

It’s so hard to ignore this heartache
When your smell lingers on the sheets

How I hope one day I’ll wake, (Now that it’s cold & empty)
And you’ll be lying next to me (This bed just seems too big)

You’re that something I need
A something no longer there

So I’m learning how to breathe -
How to breathe without air.