Poem: Shanghai on a Cold Morning

   
                                         Shanghai on a Cold Morning


                               breathing into the cold morning
                               first catches in my throat
                               then quickly clears as it bathes deep
                               its arctic wave into my heart
                               I let go and smokey tendrils
                               lift and uncoil
                               my prayers infused into vapor
                               expanding until they rise
                               out of sight
                               to the crystal moon floating
                               sleepy in the crisp
                               blue heaven
                               putting hope in my bones
                               with every shivering
                               beacon of breath
                               i learn to soften into
                               the sharp edge of chill
                               moving through to acceptance
                               here and now in this life
                               on a cold blessed morning