On Sunday, Dr. Sarah Donovan, founder of Ethical ELA, hosted the March Open Write. She invited participants to write about a place you go to breathe and know that everything will be okay.
She offered these opening lines as a model, from poet Christine Hartman Derr in “A Place to Breathe”:
Off the path,
behind some trees,
a clearing sits
and waits for me.
Dr. Donovan asked two questions to prompt our thinking:
- Where or what are the places that wait for you?
- Where are the places and who are the people around which you can simply be?
I write of my “breathing place” all the time: my drive through the countryside, to work and home again.
Here’s my poem.
Breathing Place
Along the road
among the trees
the wild things live
and wait for me
They do not know
about things like grace
or that they are
my breathing place
When they appear
as I drive by
my spirit soars
eagle-high
My heart, it sings
oh, glory, glory
for their presence
in life’s story
Peace descends
and folds its wings
—I breathe the breath
of wild things
Mourning dove, resting in my driveway
*******
with thanks to Two Writing Teachers for the March Slice of Life Challenge
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lit bits and pieces 
Beautiful poem, Fran. Love the connection of breath, peace, and our feathered friends. Made me calmer already! Thank you!
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What a beautiful poem! I can see why this is your breathing place. 🙂
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The birds! Beautiful poem, Fran.
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Oh, I needed this today! Breath, just what I am taking in right now, after luxuriating in your magic place.
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Beautiful poem. How can one not be at peace and breathe healing breaths in the place you describe.
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Thank you for bringing a moment of peace and gratitude. I needed this poem today.
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A soul sustaining poem, Fran! I adore these lines of praise.
“My heart, it sings
oh, glory, glory”
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I LOVE this writing prompt! I hope it was as therapeutic for you to write as it was for us to read. I will need to keep this one in mind!
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Oh, gosh, Fran, the rhymes and rhythm of this “Breathing Place” fit my breathing and give me peace. It is healing and beautiful. I’m so glad you shared it today, as I missed it on Sunday.
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Fran, your poem is spiritually moving, and the dove is the perfect photo to accompany it.
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A commute can be a breathing space, especially in your beautiful countryside. Mine has become so short since moving to my neighborhood school–it takes less than a song on the radio to arrive.
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Fabulous poem, Fran. Definitely the breathing place to be in and there can be so many locations! I especially love the second verse… they are quite unaware of the gift they bring to you and others.
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my spirit soars… eagle high
Isaiah 40:31
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Oh yes, indeed! How I love that verse and Exodus 19:4 – second part reading “I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you unto myself.”
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