POETRY Listen to Me Breathe Micah James Do you hear the waves Crashing against my teeth Tiny pebbles on the shoreline Sent tumbling with the tide Listen to my ebb and flow Do you hear the gentle rolling Rippling tendrils of seagrass Yearning for the shore Listen to the sweeping inhale Carrying everything out to sea Into the depths of other horizons Far into an unseen haze 52 Listen to the tumbling exhale Resolutely stretching forward Fading into ribbons of foam Sinking into settled sands Listen to the lapping waves Tormenting whitecaps Swirling away from land Dropping into the murky depth Listen to me breathe Do you hear the sea Churning inside my lungs Forever rising and falling with the tide 53