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"Sorrow Is Not My Name", by Ross Gay

Updated: Jun 6, 2021

I have been attending pranayama & meditation sessions with Chase Bossart, who I highly admire, during all the length of the pandemic. One of the things that I like is that, even it being through the internet and not in person, we get to ask questions, interact with others, and learn not only from the teacher, but from the other participants as well. In one of the sessions, something that a person said about vultures, and how important they are for the world, made me completely change the idea I had of those incredible birds.


Then my friend Toni Goodman shared this beautiful poem, new to me, in her Poetry Circle. See what you think.


Sorrow Is Not My Name

Ross Gay


—after Gwendolyn Brooks


No matter the pull toward brink. No

matter the florid, deep sleep awaits.

There is a time for everything. Look,

just this morning a vulture

nodded his red, grizzled head at me,

and I looked at him, admiring

the sickle of his beak.

Then the wind kicked up, and,

after arranging that good suit of feathers

he up and took off.

Just like that. And to boot,

there are, on this planet alone, something like two

million naturally occurring sweet things,

some with names so generous as to kick

the steel from my knees: agave, persimmon,

stick ball, the purple okra I bought for two bucks

at the market. Think of that. The long night,

the skeleton in the mirror, the man behind me

on the bus taking notes, yeah, yeah.

But look; my niece is running through a field

calling my name. My neighbor sings like an angel

and at the end of my block is a basketball court.

I remember. My color’s green. I’m spring.

—for Walter Aikens



In my group classes, I often read a poem as inspiration. check the online schedule clicking here

Learn more about Private Yoga Therapy clicking here





vulture
Eden Landing Ecological Reserve, California. February 2021

Edgewood Park, California. June 2021

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