{"id":217,"date":"2020-04-29T16:21:21","date_gmt":"2020-04-29T16:21:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.illinoisstate.edu\/euphemism\/15-2\/?page_id=217"},"modified":"2020-04-30T04:07:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-30T04:07:00","slug":"meditation-on-no-breath","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-2\/poetry\/meditation-on-no-breath\/","title":{"rendered":"meditation on no breath"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">by <strong>Rachel Zhu<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">this is how to tie &amp; tighten a noose\u00a0<em>(this is noose pose)<\/em>:\u00a0<br>pull life-string around new neck\u2014reborn: this is death-string.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">a noose choked my big brother all the way to indigo\u00a0<br>before he witnessed Light outside the womb.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">they hadn\u2019t named him yet so then they named him James;\u00a0<br><em>does a name lose importance because the only\u00a0place<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>it will be written on is a\u00a0gravestone?<\/em>\u00a0<br>dear James: because of you I did not have\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">anyone to teach me how to fight with my fists\u2014\u00a0<br>but I taught myself how to fight with my mouth\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">or anyone to teach me how to break the rules or\u00a0<br>anyone to teach me how to yell and how to run\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">and how to play pranks or\u00a0<br>anyone to tell about my love life\u2014rebirthed: life loves\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">when you left the womb, eyelids shut against first\u2014\u00a0<br>and yet,\u00a0final\u2014light, what form did you take? pomegranate\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">seed, white marble, blind\u00a0fish,\u00a0\u00a0<em>fold\u00a0the body in three,<\/em>\u00a0<br><em>this is a caress, this is (child\u2019s pose).<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">dear James: tell me about no air, I am\u00a0\u00a0<br>afraid of drowning, blunt blue on body\u2019s beating breast.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>turn the foot, straighten the arms into this:<\/em>\u00a0<br><em>taut like string. this is (Warrior Two).<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">tell me how not to be afraid\u2014\u00a0<br>tell me about no breath.\u00a0<em>there is this, too:<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>try interthread, interlace,&nbsp;<\/em><em>interravel<\/em><em>:<\/em>&nbsp;<br><em>knit together hands, legs (eagle pose).<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">this is how to breathe.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Rachel Zhu this is how to tie &amp; tighten a noose\u00a0(this is noose pose):\u00a0pull life-string around new neck\u2014reborn: this is death-string.\u00a0 a noose choked my big brother all the way to indigo\u00a0before he witnessed Light outside the womb.\u00a0 they hadn\u2019t named him yet so then they named him James;\u00a0does a name lose importance because&hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"toivo-read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-2\/poetry\/meditation-on-no-breath\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">meditation on no breath<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"parent":9,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-217","page","type-page","status-publish","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":218,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/217\/revisions\/218"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}