Yoga Class
Imagine earth below us, she says,
I think of a stone slab atop Mount Hunger
where I’ve napped in warm sun;
she says to look for balance in life,
I think of stone balancing for eons—
then I think of hunger, remember my dream,
a hotel I can’t get out of,
a dining room I can’t find, student papers
piling forever higher,
but I want to think of birds—
yellow throat warblers
that balance on tiny branches;
branch out, she says,
then we chant om,
I hear warblers sing;
think inside your body,
she says, as we breathe deeply,
I think of my heart as electrical resistance,
hear ohm, feel it beating,
imagine myself a warbler,
heartbeat five times faster;
we move into tree pose, I balance, feel my heart pump,
think of silly clichés—heartache, heartsick;
I’m balancing on a pine branch,
resting on warm stone,
my heart beats so slowly and perfectly,
I’m barely aware I’m here.
by George Longenecker, first published in Main Street Rag 2016
Editor’s Note: Surreal imagery and transitions allow this poem to replicate the meditative feeling that is so difficult to achieve when in the midst of yoga.
Yoga is so good but for me personally its to hard for me but it was a nice experience
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What a fantastic, beautiful, and humorous poem….the warbler imagery and the electrical resistance imagery is just, ohm, endearing….what a wonderful balance of language…kudos
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