Breathing Lesson

by Laura Villarreal

the body is a series of strings

hammered

by unripe

cherimoyas

falling as they will

after a truly blue sky

the heart is scaled

without ropes

the likelihood of falling increases

every day

there is no doubt

relámpago

cannot be understood

any other way than

an exhale of light

before thunder

shaken from a snow globe

but mi cielo

whether you are sky

or heaven

i can only face you

as one faces a miracle

breath swollen with guava

i recite your name

like a broken rosary

its beads scattered

stolen by hummingbirds