“Drinking in church, but not on a Sunday. I’ll truly find salvation come some day.”
I wrote those preceding words to a poem that I’m currently working on. Like all poems that I write, the spirit must truly move me to complete the task. Usually it’s more like spirited emotions that need to be vented in a healthy manner that drive me to poetry.
On this particular occasion, I was in a repurposed church that is rented out for parties, normally wedding receptions. In this case, the yoga studio where I practice bikram was having its annual party to celebrate all the challengers. These “crazy” people attended yoga class either 30, 60 or 90 times in that number of days. For me, my challenge has been to attend yoga three times a week. Just practicing that often has yielded wonderful results as far as weight loss, back health, circadian rhythm, allergy relief, strength and flexibility. (One woman who recently learned that I practiced bikram so often, credited bikram for the smoothness of my skin. I had to add that beautiful skin runs in my family.)
One thing that was revealed at the celebration was that a 90-minute bikram class burned as many calories as running 3.75 miles! Which is a great relief since I surely couldn’t stand running for that distance. Running may be a good conditioning exercise, but it’s hell on the joints–my joints are already challenged enough.
While listening to one of the three bands that played that night, I got the sudden urge to add the opening lines to the poem that I’d been working on. Apparently, this poem will be written a little at a time, from one event to the next. I’ve never written a poem in this manner before, but the overall theme of it will be getting rid of the crap in my life to make room for all the wonderful things life has to offer.
I shouldn’t have any trouble ranting about stuff. I just don’t want to come across as whiny. At the same time, the poem has a good rhythm that I plan to maintain even if I’m adding a few couplets at a time. As long as it’s finished by the time my next spoken word and poetry event rolls around, I will have accomplished my mission.