scientists recommend
that movement will sustain you,
see you through from one birthday to the next
mindful breath work
has been tested on lab mice,
so do keep breathing
everything is connected by birthday
daily movement
of mind and sinew, of joint and matter
(five mins will do it, they say)
and not the movement of mouth for chatter
lab monkeys can testify to that
shoulders, chest, neck,
and upper back body
can be grown in a petri dish
much like anxiety, depression and heavy hearts
– continue to see the body as one moving part
and test the whole being accordingly
I’m not a scientist but
know this to be true,
a landscape can hold memory but it is not like memory,
move through it like a nomad
come as you are, with a rucksack full of stones
leave as you had intended, blind test this by returning
at least one stone to the land that has tended you