Breath by Janette Schafer
My lover knows
a tangible readiness
about the eyes, heaviness
in my breath like the humid shroud
of a July day.
I wait for it,
the balance of him
on my body, sharp intake
of air, and we are caught frozen,
a medical model, a bird of prey stuffed
with glass eyes.
A moment of caution before
the crazy, the shameless.
# # #
Janette Schafer is a freelance writer, photographer, and opera singer living in Pittsburgh. She is a 2017 Maenad Fellowship Awardee through Chatham University. Recent and upcoming publications include Eyedrum Periodically, PublicSource, Chatham University broadsides, The Woman Inc., and Nasty Women and Bad Hombres Anthology.
Photo: Stefan Schweihofer
[…] Toby Wallis – A Stranger in Your World Janette Schafer – Breath Carsten Smith-Hall – Homo arboretum J. Mari – irretrievable Alyssa D. Ross – Let's Order the Crème […]