During Yoga

During Yoga

Out of sound a silence creating
space between the joints, posturing
the spine to elongate

while busy thinking sides taken, causes stated
fingers pointed, name-calling-beyond-just-calling,
deep seated hatreds flaring explosions

and myself in yoga centering myself,
seated with the sit bones pressed into the earth
the spine lifted, the heart center, forward

into the atmosphere, acid rain, global warming,
erratic weather patterns, asthmatic population clusters,
earthquakes, PCPs, fish dying, oceans dying,

air dying, people dying, being born, babies entering
standing on one leg, lifting the other, straightening,
bending forward one leg rooted to the ground,

concentrating on the breath, taking the movement into flow,
flowing in movement, moving past the ages, past aging,
past such times as these that call for hope,

compassion rising to its fullest, we are forever one
with as many as ever were - elongating
the spine and neck, raising the arms in prayer.

Karen Neuberg
Brooklyn, NY
American Jewish World Service & Doctors Without Borders