Because She Fell Out of Her Yoga Pose She blamed herself, and quickly felt the shame arise that went with blaming – self-critique, because she could not cleanse her mind of blame, had now erased the state of grace that came from flowing pose to pose –  she chewed her cheek, and blamed herself and, thinking, felt the shame that undermined the clean and simple aim of being where you are – began to speak because she could not cleanse her mind of blame - and sensed on all the mirrored walls the same refracted, anxious face, and took a peek, and saw herself and quickly felt her shame pervade the class, and struggled to reclaim a sense of inner peace, but week by week, because she could not cleanse her mind, her blame became its own asana in this game she always played alone; upset and bleak she blamed herself and, blaming, felt the shame because she could not cleanse her mind of blame. Michael Cantor If you've any comments on this poem, Michael Cantor would be pleased to hear from you.