The Body
The body is a curious thing for consciousness to occupy
It strikes with an injurious ring that mindfulness must so rely
On this semi-porous problematic space suit for the soul
This transitory heterostatic system to control
This liquid-leaking solid-voiding virological host
This pleasure-seeking pain-avoiding keeper of the ghost
This bio-vulnerable psychophysical feat of engineering
Whose own subjectively not so trivial end is ever nearing
Provocative, to be sure, the disconcerting notion
That the Self endures dependent upon auto-locomotion
Sensation here, perception there, oh look out for the danger!
An outward peer, a downward stare—so who's
this fleshy stranger?
Stiff in the morning, sore at night
Sick without warning, muscles all tight
Winter wind-chilled, summer sun-baked
Bellies to fill, bellies to ache
OK I give! I'll try my best! I'll use coordination.
Positively get some rest, then joint articulation!
Cardio-enthusiastic callisthenic exercise
Work a bit! Dramatic changes happen right before your eyes!
Use it or lose it! It's no use to refuse it
Infuse it with music—improve how you move it
Bend in half, control your breath, go on a
special diet
Along the path from birth to death, perhaps a moment's quiet
And then you're in it, time alone, in stillness and you find
A few techniques cannot be shown—yoga's for the mind!
Macrocosmic causal logic and the simplest answers
Subject-object special project hairless chimp enhancers
A grunt or two, a puzzled look, a moment's introspection
Not hunting through a hundred books, but in bemused affection
Realizing from the start the body was required
Because a mind without a heart could never be inspired