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Gasp

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We breathe
in birth
at death
gasps which we cannot recall
and never could have intended
That others witness, cherish, memorialize

 And just like those breaths
God is with us
our first and our last
remembered and unremembered
our Ebeneezer
No less his, and no less ours

 He is the Word
Who made the word
That made the World

 And we, who are born of breath
Walk as though sustained by it
Sit as if condemned by it
Lay as now robbed of it
Scattered as a chaff in the wind

 From dust of dust
to flesh and bone
His breath resurrects
and invites
welcoming life
into the family rooms of
our hearts of stone

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