My Physical Therapist is a Guru
He told me to turn my head
from right to left
during TV commercials
that I don’t watch
But there are resting stops
and skips in the record
intermissions and intentions
that break up the day
I want to hope for improvements
but have no agendas
want to love what I have
and whatever comes next
So I stretch like a rubber neck
to see what lurks but doesn’t exist
to remember the loved lyrics that I lost
I turn my head like a wind-up music box
that plays all the songs I grew up with
Maybe I’ll stand up and dance
Remember the steps
to the New Yorker and Philly
Maybe I’ll walk a straight line
with no thoughts of myself
Get drunk on wonder
One foot in front of the other
with only muscle memory and a wish
Maybe I’ll stand on one foot
like a great blue heron holds a pose
with no directions to follow
and no worries to bear
No place to go
But here
___________Colleen Redman / Poets and Storytellers United
August 8th, 2025 2:03 am
oh what a delight I can picture you, on a wind-up music box twirling and dancing or in a graceful pose like a beautiful Heron
August 8th, 2025 3:42 am
Oh, how I love every line of this!
August 8th, 2025 9:17 am
Enticing images of where the mind goes. This is utterly relatable and the attempts at meditation and correction real.
August 8th, 2025 10:37 am
Wonderful! That last stanza says it all!
August 9th, 2025 2:11 am
very nicely written…enjoyed it
August 10th, 2025 3:34 pm
This turned my head, CR. Thanks
August 14th, 2025 3:19 pm
What a great use of commercials….I will remember to use them better…
August 14th, 2025 3:21 pm
I love the thought of standing ‘on one foot like a great blue hero’, Colleen.
August 14th, 2025 3:24 pm
“to remember the loved lyrics that I lost”
you posed so many lovely poses here!
August 14th, 2025 3:27 pm
A quiet humour and peacefulness in this Colleen.
JIM
August 14th, 2025 7:58 pm
What wonderful images you used in this poem! The blue heron was the perfect ending.
August 14th, 2025 10:52 pm
That last verse was my favorite!
August 15th, 2025 12:15 am
from that old song, “It’s your thang, do what you want to do.” I get tired of being told what I should be doing.
August 15th, 2025 7:58 am
I can really relate to this, Colleen, growing older, doing strange exercises in ad breaks, striking curious poses…
August 15th, 2025 9:34 am
This makes me want to do that yoga pose…you know the stork, I think it’s called. Love your last stanza. “No worries to bear.” Wouldn’t that be sweet?
August 15th, 2025 11:04 am
I enjoyed your poem. Reminded me of the bobble head doll we used to have many years ago.
August 16th, 2025 3:47 pm
I think one of the gifts of growing older is the willingness to experiment with the path, to feel into the future instead of rushing in or being pushed.
September 1st, 2025 4:44 pm
Here is all we ever really have. You embody that gracefully.