Breathing In Time

come, lie in the grass with me.
don’t mind your phone, don’t
worry about your jeans, either—
the morning dew dries fast.
don’t hesitate, don’t question—
this sunrise will only last so long.
if the ground’s too hard, rest your head
on my chest and hear the beating.
it thumps in time with the earth,
spinning and spinning and spinning—
don’t you ever feel dizzy? like life’s too
fast, too loud, especially now? I do,
and that’s why we’re here,
watching the clouds tinged in orange,
breathing in time with the wind
on the grass, tickling our calves.

—Fiona Steele

Fiona Steele is the author of coming home (Acorn Press), which was shortlisted for the 2024 PEI Book Awards for poetry. She previously published a chapbook through Island Studies Chapbooks.

Each month Bren Simmers selects a poem by an Island poet for The Buzz.