Gratitude – In Three Parts: A Prayer, A Practice, A People

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Part One – Angels

If I’m not being guided by angels, I don’t know what to tell you
Everywhere I go, everywhere I turn,
I am finding new souls to connect with,
on a level that, for most folks,
happens once in a lifetime.
This is not a soliloquy,
on the oddity of this experience,
but a prayer of thanks,
an ode to the gods,
more likely, goddesses,
who have taken me into
their care since you left.

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Part Two – Transforming

My teacher, a yogi who I now call Rebbie,
arranging us in the periphery,
transforms a room into a sacred space.
Likewise,
weaving stories from her journey
with tales of hard-won wisdom,
with music that modulates
the rhythm of our breathing,
she leads us
in an eyes-closed sit,
an arms-raised breath,
in unison turns,
sweeping bends,
arms in exaltation
above our heads,
and hands in prayer
at our breast.
And then, after
we have wrapped arms
one around the other—
first left around right,
and then the other—
we find our balance
as we teeter on
right or left.
Then finally,
heart pumping,
bodies covered in a light sheen,
we lie on our backs
and become one with the universe:
shavasana.

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Part Three – My Sangha

The other day
We met on Zoom
I missed the hugs and chit chat
The fifth week of
A six-week workshop
The topic I could write a thesis on
After our leader, cross-legged,
set the stage with precision
in a gentle voice,
with a kind heart,
Each of us
exposed a wound,
shed a tear,
shared a story,
held a picture up to the camera.
And in that space and time,
I felt an overwhelming love
for these beings,
no longer strangers,
now members of my sangha.