We completed our exploration of how the 8 limbs of Yoga relate to the teachings of Mindfulness, pointing us again and again toward our true nature: Aware, loving, curious, relaxed and open. These poems and quotes reflect and enhance each week’s theme.
Nature (Gus Almquist, age 95)
I went for a hike in the surrounding hills today
The tall trees greeted me showing off their gigantic limbs
Stable
Bushes were showing me their delicate but tough structures
Some with blossoms seducing birds and bees and me
Grasses capturing energy from the sun
On a far off hill, cattle transferring energy from the grasses
eventually transferring energy to humans
I am standing on planet Earth surrounded by our universe
I have become a tiniest speck with infinite longings
I have (Maria Mitea)
the eyes
wide open
searching for
searching for
my
contentment.
The Unbroken (Rashani Réa)
There is a brokenness
out of which comes the unbroken,
a shatteredness
out of which blooms the unshatterable
give me laugh lines (Rupi Kaur)
give me laugh lines and wrinkles
i want proof of the jokes we shared
engrave the lines into my face like
the roots of a tree that grow deeper
with each passing year
i want sunspots as souvenirs
for the beaches we laid on
i want to look like I was
never afraid to let the world
take me by the hand
and show me what it’s made of
i want to leave this place knowing
i did something with my body
other than trying to
make it look perfect
Next Time (William Stafford)
Next time what I’d do is look at
the earth before saying anything. I’d stop
just before going into a house
and be an emperor for a minute
and listen better to the wind
or to the air being still.
When anyone talked to me, whether
blame or praise or just passing time,
I’d watch the face, how the mouth
has to work, and see any strain, any
sign of what lifted the voice.
And for all, I’d know more–the earth
bracing itself and soaring, the air
finding every leaf and feather over
forest and water, and for every person
the body glowing inside the clothes
like a light.
AUG
2021