Special Feature: "Balancing on the Equinox" by Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, Contest Judge

Balancing on the Equinox

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, Contest Judge

The golden tree holds her pose for several breaths,

each one a dazzle of wind, rise, fall, feather and run.

Meantime, time. Meanwhile, a man on a bicycle pumping hard

to get up the hill. Meanwhile, the dog tearing down the street,

leash flying behind him. Meanwhile, the equinox:

a balance point when one white plastic bag pauses

at the side of the tree, a flag or spirit or sign

before dropping down to trash again.

I stand in the backyard in tree: my right leg trembling

as it supports me, my left knee bent, leading the hip open.

I press my palms together at my heart and wish for balance

even, especially, while falling. The storm to come

cups the west side of this life. The heat of summer cups the right.

I exhale. The golden tree across the way holds very still

then surrenders everything in the wide arms of the world.

Poet's Notes: This is obviously a yoga poem, but it's also about weather, and it's one of the poems in Chasing Weather, my collaborative book with weather chaser/photographer Stephen Locke. I've drawn so much to how our bodies are our most local weather and address, our most intimate connection with earth and sky.

Editor’s Note:  “Balancing on the Equinox” was previously published in Chasing Weather: Tornadoes, Tempests, and Thunderous Skies in Word and Image by Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg and Stephen Locke.