Paradox on the Mat

To meditate

Is to prepare

For immersion in

An eternal present 

Undefined by a past

That never happened and

A future that will never arrive

By sitting cross-legged

Leaning neither forward

Nor back but with

Shoulders aligned and

Head held high

Letting slip all

Ten thousand things

Into the accord

Of by and by

Letting mind drift

Like the wind as it passes

Through the wheat

Of the here and now

Unthreshed and

Untouched

Yet holding onto truth

In a small bundle

Of energy compacted

Into the mudra of

Hands encircled
But unclasped

Drawing by Christine Shields