Finding Enlightenment Over Dinner After Yoga

You ask us
what we think
about finding enlightenment
through the experience
of the body
as we sip soup and ginger tea--
consider salad made with flowers
and pumpkin seeds.

I hum
and listen
to the other yoginis
who want to sound close
to the edge of this sea
with their talk
of laundry
and grief
and the ways dance
has revealed the truth
to them.
Violence is nothing.
The body only captures anger
if you let it.

I listen knowing
my skin
has become the paper
on which I write the chapter
of a new story.
My hips gather evidence
like a detective
on an unsolvable case.
I open my mind
just before sleeping
to the Universe,
my new lover,
and wonder where
I will meet
the sound of the voice
that will whisper softly
and hand over the keys
to everything.

Over dessert of simple fruit
I smile and cup my right hand
under my left breast
and lean into the table,
satisfied to know
my heart
is only inches away
from flying.