Yoga
Coming into ‘Warrior One’ Position
Click for meditationRegarding "Coming into ‘Warrior One’ Position"
On the day of this
Poem, I realized that yoga
Was a great, universal equalizer
And communicator
Amongst peoples.
As I moved from yoga
Pose to yoga pose,
I became cognizant of the
Different shades and
Hues of all the bare feet
Which were constantly
Shifting in position before my eyes
On the wooden floor,
And which were mixing
With the sweat of
Past yoga classes in a
Combined genuflection to
The common mother
We all shared…
The clay of humankind
Was at work right
In front of me,
And the sole goal
Of this amalgam
Of flesh was to find
Peace in this little niche
Of heaven with the
Door quietly closed against
The distractions of the
Outside world.
All it took was to
Breathe, to concentrate
In the present
Moment with the
Instructor’s gentle
Commands, to do
My best, to seek balance
In my movements,
And to know that
I was not being judged,
But just seeking a
Better way to be alive.
Leo Carroll
May 3, 2018
Up to Warrior One from
Downward Facing Dog I come,
Struggling with my footing,
In movements slow and stiff and
Cumbersome. Up, up, finally I
Right myself into this pose,
With my arms reaching for the
Heavens, as if in entreating
Praise to some Unknown.
But in that last, fleeting
Second before I reached
Myself so skyward, my
Eyes still were locked
To earth, and in that
Timeless instant were
Imprinted like a child’s.
For in a glance across the
Wooden floor, I saw a wide
Swath of anonymous feet of all
Shapes and hues, and this
Amalgam of flesh shouted out,
“This is what I show you,
And it is yoga’s universal,
Common good and truth…!”
And in that one sentence, I
Realized how humanity’s clay
Could be divine…and I
Knew my arms reached up
To touch — the cloth of a
Far Greater Rhyme.