Why do I sigh?

Why do I sigh? My children ask
As I sit back and start to relax
Why do you sigh Mom? Are you ok?
Oh yes, but what a day,  month, year...
I think when I sigh, my body says its ok

Don't worry my babies, this is just me
When you are young your future is a fantasy
I know now what is important and what is not
Yet I am sitting here and I remember a lot
When I sigh I am fine it is my bodies reflex

I sigh when tired
I sigh when sad
I sigh when angry
I sigh when glad
I sigh when bad

When I was young I watched a woman
She sighed in distress, lost and lonely
She had suffered a trauma
She was depressed it's true
But she never stopped sighing

Now its my turn to be the older woman
I sit and I yearn I hope that I have grown
I hope that I have learned
But it never stops this feeling in my chest
Whether I am busy or at rest, I sigh at my best

I sigh when tired

I sigh when sad

I sigh when angry

I sigh when glad

I sigh when bad

Even as I sit, my fingers on the keys

I reflect on my life and who I could be

I don't always look back with ease

There were moments I could have missed

And times of complete bliss, yet I sigh

I feel the rhythm and feel the breath

As it rises and moves up through my chest

Sometimes it shudders but most often not

It just flies out again through my mouth

As my breath gets heavy and sighs

I sigh when tired

I sigh when sad

I sigh when angry

I sigh when glad

I sigh when bad

I look at my little ones, forever my babies

The girls of my heart and wonder how life

Will treat them and if they will start

To sigh one day and realize they are me

It all comes around and repeats history

Now it is time to move on

Forget the sorrow that has gone

Remember the wonders that are now

And listen to my heart as my life wanders along

If I sigh again it is not loss or pain it is just me

Sarah Sherman