I wanted to return
to the mingling of molecules,
the way the essential oils
you rubbed on you at the beginning of the practice
ended up in my clothes, in my hair.
I wanted to feel the comfort
in breathing as one,
in mixing our breath,
in sharing the intimacy
of one experience together

I don’t want this to be forbidden.
I want to reestablish
the innocence of breath,
the wholesomeness of closeness,
the fact of our sovereignty
excluding any hate or thinking evil
about each other, any way
to do each other harm.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 4, 2020