I wanted to thank one of my students for sending me a poem written after yoga class in Chapel Hill, NC this month. Thank you for sharing and truthfulness. Here it is, enjoy! Love, SAM
Quietly
and without notice,
a wave of gratitude
washed over me today
in yoga class.
A wave so insistent
that I felt it simply
washed out all
the hate and venom
I ever harbored.
I cannot explain
why – or how -- it came.
I wanted to take
the hand of my loyal
friend and say,
“I am so glad you
want to be next to me
today.
To share snippets of
the DNA
of our souls
in secret telling
of silly stories
or outrageous fantasies …
or simple acts
of tiny kindnesses
or resting silently
in the little boat
of our friendship.”
Bio for Sandra Roberts:
Born in the deep south of rural East Texas in the 40s, Sandy Roberts grew up in a family heavily influenced by the Southern Baptist culture, community and tradition. Hard work, school and sports were front and center following religion in her family. Books were scarce. In her home there was a dictionary and a King James Version of the bible in addition to her father’s Outdoor Life magazine subscription. In her school, the small library was an area that was used as a detention center, not a place of discovery and wonder. Mainly, her goal was to avoid punishment and stay out of “that place.” While she was required to read a few books, she quickly learned to cut corners and get out of most of the reading and -- most importantly – avoid writing the detested book reports at all costs.
When she went to college, she was introduced to the beauty and power of literature, but rejected it as a major course of study in order to take classes that would lead to a job. Roberts has a BA in Business and an MS in Organizational Psychology. Both of which have been useful in adult life, but clearly missed the mark of her passion.
When she retired in the late 2000s, she turned to spiritual exploration, including yoga, and literary adventures to feed her deep-seated need to find peace, meaning, and solace in her life – and to speak to her heart’s desire. She studied Reiki and is currently a practicing Reiki master. Her first book of poetry, Bring Yourself, was inspired by yoga meditation and poses.
While she had written poems most of her life, they were destined to a lonely existence in her desk, buried deep in a forgotten drawer. Once she immersed myself in the spiritual and literary world, she began to write in earnest and to share her work with family and friends. Writing classes followed and were key to focusing her energy and opening channels of creativity. Poems began to flow.
Roberts learned in one of her classes that Emily Dickinson kept at her side the two books that were prominent in her own childhood home – the dictionary and the bible. They seemed to have served the famous poet exceptionally well. So perhaps those books were enough to plant the seed to love words, language, and the images and the connections they spark in minds. Her intention in this work is to offer you an opportunity to reconnect with your own inner knowing, longings and desires. To delve into the riches of your memory and imagination and to integrate all of that into the power of your present experience – the present moment.