Gaining Serenity in Spite of the Pricks

I worry continually about
our dire political situation.
I wring my hands and vituperate.
But by my obsessing do I keep bad
things from happening?—like if I don’t stop
gazing at the coiled rattlesnake it won’t
strike? Mostly I think I just drive my friends
crazy, with my Facebook posts and all. So,

I’ve decided to meditate and do
yoga. Drawing my world close around me,
I feel invulnerable but cut off—
gratified that my feet don’t slide on the
carpeted stairs when I walk down them, but
fearing I’m way remiss in my duty—

unhappy because
Savasana ’s become a
stretching exercise...