First Yoga Class Ever...

...and I feel good! (Except I should not have eaten afterward. Just water would have done. Oh, well, next time.)

The Assignment:

“Stretchy Metaphors” -- It’s day two of NaPoWriMo, and we’re feeling fresh, invigorated, ready for anything, right? Here’s today’s challenge: find five verbs and five nouns from one subject area, and use them to write about another subject. My son had this assignment in his college poetry class, and he culled his words from biology and then wrote about technology. The idea is to create an extended metaphor in a short poem, of maybe ten to twelve lines.
Happy poeming!

The Product: comparing yoga practice to teaching high school English (hmmmm)

[Disclaimer -- It's not short. Oh, well. And it needs work. Oh, well.]

English Class: Namaste

Every class feels like
my first –
a veteran but always a beginner.

I am teacher and also student.
I bend and stretch myself
across the text as I ask them
to follow me
but still honor their own
bodies and minds
at whatever level they are today.

I demonstrate poses,
the literary sort,
teach them to breathe language in,
breathe language out,
put my hand on their shoulder
when they need help reaching
or keeping their backs straight
while twisting,
provide a block
when they need support or
can’t quite touch the ground
and still breathe.

Notice. Feel. Focus.

I ask them to focus
on their brain’s breath,
on the transitions
between inhale and exhale,
between stanzas and tones,
on change and
what it does to us.

I ask them to swan dive
to the bottom of an argument,
to fold themselves into a
character.

I teach them,
or try,
to feel the energy
in their voice.
I ask them to open
the front and back doors
of their heart.