World Breather by Olivia Lee (14, California)

I was born feeling my way through the world
A moon orbiting the warmth of other people
I feel the whole solar system and the stars beneath my feet
Dark matter, intangible realms, the unknown, I can feel it between my fingers
My feelings are inconceivably vast, something cosmi

I am sitting cross legged in waist high pools of space with the world in my fist
I swallow the sun in one large gulp
I feel seasick in my chest as I drink down the oceans
The sticky feeling of seasalt coating my veins and everything inside me

The high and low tides rise and fall in my chest
The breathes of the world fill my lungs
Moonlight shines from the soft edges of my mouth
As I sigh and let out the voices of the world inside my ribcage

Floating around somewhere between time and other dimensions
This feeling existed long before me
It must have waited between planes of existence, God and other hidden places
Before it settled in my chest
This weight of something ancient exists between each of my breaths