Air Is Not 

Air Is Not Air Is Air, a Mircale


Air is air
you think this is always the case
air is always air
always twenty one per cent oxygen
you think
in this case you thinking air is air is wrong
air is not always air
oxygen is used up in this case
somehow air has less
air is not always
air chokes everyone in the container around you
air is wrong in this case
and you think your turn will be soon
but you think wrongly
not all this air is not air
and by some miracle
air is air
or in this case somehow
for your turn
your air is air
still twenty one per cent oxygen
not bad
not choking
and somehow in this case you soon emerge
from the same container
stepping over the bodies of everyone
who is like you
but for whom in this case
air was not air
and they are not now like you
for always
in air that is always air
as you step from the container
into fresh air
an always dawn
and you thinking
a Kent morning miracle of air


Kate Noakes’ most recent collection is Goldhawk Road (Two Rivers Press, 2023). She is completing her PhD at the University of Reading on contemporary British and American poetry and the breath. Her website is:www.boomslangpoetry.blogspot.com