An ode to air

Air is not emptiness
           even when it is empty
of birds or planes
           or flying leaves
air is everywhere
           full of itself
here angels reside
           and pass among us
unnoticed
           angels of the sun
and moon soundlessly
           sightlessly present
air is breath
           and fresh life
and is there
           in every thought
and act of love
           it is the vehicle
for language
           its medium
and its measure
           and it shapes our world
clinging to the spangled
           topographies
of land and sea
           and life and death

John Lyons