Winter 07

For Lvov

My youngest and I steal each other’s breath
at bedtime. When she yawns,
I suck the inch of vapor into my mouth.

Sometimes she quickly grabs
her breath before I can get to it,
catching it in the palm of her hand
and giggling at her cleverness.

But I’m stronger.

I uncurl each clenched finger
and inhale the clouds of breath
that lazily encircle each tip
like fog on mountain peaks,
stealing little wisps of her spirit.

But I wonder, as parents do,
how long we are entrusted with this gift
of a child’s life (for surely it must be returned).

When will God’s secret hand
raise itself to her lips, pretending
to play our game in the night?

When he takes her breath away
will she think it’s me, will
she wrestle his great fingers to her lips
and reclaim the clouds as her own?

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	Borrowers By Jalina Mhyana

	For Lvov My youngest and I steal each other’s breath at bedtime. When she yawns, I suck the inch of vapor into my mouth. Sometimes she quickly grabs her breath before I can get to it, catching it in the palm of her hand and giggling at her cleverness. But I’m stronger. I uncurl each clenched finger and inhale the clouds of breath that lazily encircle each tip like fog on mountain peaks, stealing little wisps of her spirit. But I wonder, as parents do, how long we are entrusted with this gift of a child’s life (for surely it must be returned). When will God’s secret hand raise itself to her lips, pretending to play our game in the night? When he takes her breath away will she think it’s me, will she wrestle his great fingers to her lips and reclaim the clouds as her own? >>>More

	Jalina Mhyana is a two-time Pushcart nominee who works as a massage therapist and freelance journalist near Frankfurt, Germany. Her chapbook Spikeseed was published by Bad Moon Books in spring, 2004, and her poetry has been published in Room of One's Own, Slipstream, Margin and others. She was a finalist in Perigee Journal's 2005 poetry contest judged by Judy Jordan. She is editor in chief of Rock Salt Plum Review an online poetry journal in which she has published her interviews with poets Li-Young Lee, Denise Duhamel, Kim Addonizio, Laurie Kuntz, and others. Jalina is an MFA candidate in the creative writing program at Bennington College.