Old Friends and Guiding Lights

I never know how much I miss

the warm fresh air until I’m in it

and the breeze hits my face

and I don’t wince at the cold

but instead revel

in the reaction of my skin

a smile breaking out

the coolness so much softer that

it no longer stings but soothes

and I want to fill my lungs

and cover every inch of me with air

I feel an unnatural.natural urge

to run, jump, say hello to strangers out

wrapped up in the same flow

of nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor

I feel wonder

of all the things in that same flow

and I crave the towers, earth’s memorials

to life that existed before us and will exist after

yes, the oxygen giving trees