Today is the first Friday in August and my first day of school, but it’s also time for an Inkling challenge. This month Catherine wanted to give us something easy to write. She thought about sports. I am not all that sporty, but I do have a poem in the anthology Rhyme & Rhythm: poems for student-athletes (Archer Books. 2021). It’s a duplex poem about swimming.
As I contemplated this challenge, I turned to my weekly yoga class. I am going to miss this class during the school year. I love the instructor and the way she speaks to us. I’ve always thought it was like poetry. So on Wednesday, I recorded the class. This poem is a transcription with poetic license. I decided to play with having no punctuation and using space and line breaks to pause. Does this work?
The Sport of Mindfulness
Breathing is healing
relaxation
brings the body together
all cells communicate together
Breathe and communicate
into one focus. breathNotice if your thoughts move
into a pattern bring yourself back
to your anchor
your breathBack and forth a tennis match with yourself
building a new skill purposeful
intentional thinkingLean into the stretch spread your fingers
press into the palm open your musclesStay with the breath
Challenge yourself
Focus ride the waves
of discomfort Then it starts to feel goodExhale pose
thank you colon
thank you liver
thank you spleen
gallbladder pancreas
Thank you for all your hard work
Toxins moving out releaseCome back to the breath
The sound of the wind sound of the music
Sensation of being in the room among friends
No responsibilitiesNature is abundant
Bring awareness to your abundance
You are abundant thriving We are all thrivingWe all meet at the center
For Susan Grain
Namaste.
Margaret Simon, draft
See how other Inklings met this challenge:
Linda Mitchell
Molly Hogan
Catherine Flynn
Heidi Mordhorst
MaryLee Hahn
Reflections on the Teche 