Coming Up for Air – a poem by Sheila Wellehan

Coming Up for Air

The pirate ships
dispersed during the eclipse.
The sharks disappeared
in the dark.
It’s safe now—
as safe as it will be.
Swim up to the surface.
Look around and feel
the air on your face.
Turn off your oxygen tank
and breathe air into your lungs
slowly, but using
all your body’s strength.
Feel your lungs.
Feel your strength.
Then relax, and exhale.
Let the air go.
Now again.
In and out. In and out.
You can do it.
You remember.

Sheila Wellehan’s poetry is featured in On the Seawall, Rust & Moth, Thimble Literary Magazine, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, Whale Road Review, and many other publications. She’s an assistant poetry editor for The Night Heron Barks and anassociate editor for Ran Off With the Star Bassoon. Sheila lives in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. You can read her work atwww.sheilawellehan.com .