I am a well-oiled
working
machine
daily yoga tune-ups
deep inhalations
stretching me
to reach
beyond
be flexible

but somewhere I seized
not like
carpe diem
though the day
the present
became painfully clear
back locked up
muscle jammed
into some
raised knot
gripping
breath
and movement

I’m too young
to be laid up
grunting
when I bend down
uttering words like
‘my back just seized up on me’

loved ones offer wisdom
‘just breathe into it’
hands moving circles over soreness
‘you’re gripping there, let go’

I don’t know exactly what it is I’m holding on to
why I captured myself in this seizure
ears hear ‘let go’
and my back wants to know how

somewhere there is a river
an infinite current
coursing more than just my spine
where we float
(or thrash, or dive, or swim – you decide)
maybe in my try
to be flexible
I forgot to drift
so I’m going to bob
here
in the ripples
slowly spin
within the eddies
let the river move me
be seized
overtaken
by all things greater than
me