breathing

When a man inhales,
his chest rises.
A deep breath, a prepared sigh
is a physical surrender.
He opens himself,
presents, and becomes vulnerable.
Once the breath is taken in,
there is still one last chance -
one can still decide to forego the sigh,
to retain the breath and leave himself open
and his chest uplifted.
If he, defeated, chooses to exhale
so that his chest collapses, his shoulders hunch and
he becomes closed,
He can always choose to breathe in again.