I told her about how I’ve seemed to have lost my inspiration

She breathed in shallowly, through her oxygen tubing 

She said, “Nah, I know what you’re doing

Thinking about the future, planning your next move

Trying to master all the things you need to prove”

She paused between each word to catch her breath 

She said, “I’ve never been able to catch my own respiration

“Doesn’t that seem like a strange equation?
To breathe in, then out?

There’s whole textbook chapters on gas exchange 

I’ve never been a smoker but they say my lungs resemble black clouds 

I find it strange”

Her face was wan 

I couldn’t tell if it was the COPD or the anemia 

But she said as she left, holding her walker, “I trust you”

And like air, she was gone 

And I breathed in unhindered 

Grateful 

When I went to write, all her words I remembered