Downward Dog

(Adho Mukha Svanasana)

When you stretch your body in all directions at once:
your skull, your pelvis, heel bones, and wrists –
where is your center?

And what kind of creature lives there?
Does it have a voice? Does it sigh when you let
your shoulder blades spread wide? Or
does it begin a frantic dance?

If each limb pressing into the ground is a melody
what does the whole choir sound like?
Are there lyrics?

When your body holds a simple pose
past the point of restlessness
where does joy first arise?

How does it make itself known?