Oh, Ibn al-Nafis, tell me how pulse
measures heart absorbing cooling spirit,
expelling its warm waste, body’s repulse
of imbalance forced by reflex. Hear it?
Shhh. Surely you do. No, not the heartbeat,
but the pulse. Soft as memory of wind.
Tell me you hear it, then let me repeat
how, thanks to you, my deep breathing portends
Great Breathing—evolving spirit revives
body exhaling to renew lily
and oak leaf in turn restoring our lives.
Hint how arterioles, venules rely
on capillaries, then heed my whisper:
how my pulse feels Great Breathing flow through her.
Roger Armbrust
December 20, 2007
