Sonia Halbach
I never chant – I mumble,
the ancient Sanskrit that is meant
to tune my energy.
But I tune out.
The intelligently designed
breaths I am directed to make
fail to overcome the ancient mantras of my mind
that don’t go back centuries-
only months, to when my chakras
were turned into blocked energy pores,
forming a spiritual acne along my spine.
I touch my hands in prayer,
press my thumbs into my sternum, and
bend far over my crossed legs in an attempt
to rinse my core in this healing language.
But I mumble all the while.
–
Sonia Halbach is currently finishing her BA in English and Communication at Augustana in Sioux Falls, SD and has been published in Venture of Sioux Falls; Chronogram out of Kingston, NY; and won the Maya Angelou Peace Poem Competition in 2007.
