Volume 8, 2008

Table, Cat, Tree

Arlene L. Mandell

This roomful of women
twist, bend, balance,
bodies stick thin or plump

backs straight or bent
as we move from table
to cat stretch with memories

of spines supple as willow wands.
Like folded leaves we kneel,
foreheads to the floor,

pose tall as trees, sometimes
lose our balance, try again.
On our backs now, abdominal

breaths and pelvic tilts,
not passion but preservation,
this roomful of women in

our seventh, eighth, ninth
decades reaching past our toes,
past our mothers’ life spans,

going deeper, holding longer.
Namaste, peace, we say,
as we step into sunlight.

Return to Table of Contents, Volume 8, 2008.