The gentle movements of a Tai Chi session this morning had me
Watching the flow of my hands,
And once again, I felt there the wooden caress of a paddle;
I was stepping into my mental canoe,
Slipping away on daydreams
Of early morning escapes
Beside a gentle river bank,
Feeling the solitude as I float downstream across flat water,
Free of man-made sounds in their various forms;
I close my eyes,
Enjoying the rocking of the canoe,
trusting the gentle movement of the river
to carry me along wherever it is going;
I feel again the water washing around my toes as I invite some of it aboard with every stroke of my paddle;
My memory took a deep breath and there it was: the wonderful atmosphere;
Smells of algae, fish, flowers,
And the sounds of nature; frogs, birds, and various forms of flying tag-a-longs who found it amusing to play tag on my hat and hide-and-seek around my ankles - taking the occasional nibble;
I grabbed hold of that spiritual oar of freedom,
Gave it a mental pull,
- And I smiled.
My hands, now resting,
Palms up, in peace.
Edie Batstone