Unless We Rest

Today's memorized poem,"Trough" by Judy Sorum Brown, reminds me not to flail in frustration or fear whether I am facing loss, a new learning curve, or the vagaries of life.

I recite this poem while doing a yoga sequence beginning in Warrior Pose II . As I move from this pose to others, the poem just fits, whether I am reaching back in Reverse Warrior Pose or resting in Triangle Pose.

(Note--I rarely wear yoga clothes--just whatever I put on for the day.)

In the poem-yoga flow of "Trough,"

I feel a sense of guidance toward how to better handle whatever comes my way.

Trough

There is a trough in waves,
 A low spot
 Where horizon disappears
 And only sky
 And water
 Are our company.

And there we lose our way
 Unless
 We rest, knowing the wave will bring us
 To its crest again.

There we may drown
 If we let fear
 Hold us within its grip and shake us
 Side to side,
 And leave us flailing, torn, disoriented.

But if we rest there
 In the trough,
 Are silent,
 Being with
 The low part of the wave,
 Keeping
 Our energy and
 Noticing the shape of things,
 The flow,

Then time alone
 Will bring us to another
 Place
 Where we can see
 Horizon, see the land again,
 Regain our sense
 Of where
 We are,
 And where we need to swim.

Used by permission of Judy Sorum Brown. Her poem "Trough" can be found in her book,

The Sea Accepts All Rivers & other poems and in the Poetry of Presence: an Anthology of Mindfulness Poems.

Photos:

Horseshoe Crabs, Delaware Bay, Delaware, USA

Clouds, Green Sea Turtle, Raja Ampat, Indonesia.