DEEP===GO DEEP---- BREATHE by Peno Hardesty

and so it was that i walked----further than i have walked for a long time----setting sun cast shadows and i remembered the warning----do not walk out there alone----you are still too weak----was it really only this past march that the fever and illness consumed me----i stand in the tall grasses----the rains have stopped but the ground is still soggy----the cypress stand----i can do this-----darkness falls quick under the canopy----heart pounding i reached out and the mother cypress welcomed me----leaning against her i let my failing eyes adjust to the darkness----ankle deep in mud--chest heaving with each breath---sweat covers me-----the sudden call of the owl--on my knees now in the mud i hear it---the drum the drum----come we close our eyes and feel the drum---our own heartbeat---our heaving chest in perfect rhythm---breathe----home---the mud covers my legs---feel the healing == feel the love----listen === the night creations beckon----come tap our hands against the cypress create the sound---join life----feel again the sensual longing of womanhood--of life---thats it---stand and dance barefoot in the mud---the sweat drips across the heaving chest and the drumbeat of life lives---dance --- sweat----heave---be................................................blessings