In corpse pose
under a palm tree
on green artificial grass,
bird song overlaying downtown sounds,
I feel calm as azure sky and still and cool as stone.

On the way to a free yoga class in Chandler, I tried to think of how to use the color blue in a poem. In Sidlak poems, the color invokes a mood. I wasn’t feeling blue as I passed the town’s famous tumbleweed tree. For the next hour, I concentrated on holding poses and stretching my abilities. During meditation punctuated by a nearby buzz saw, I listened to a single bird. I tried to forget the sun blazing on my black clothes and one side of my face. At the signal to open my eyes, my mind dove into deep blue sky just past the bird’s home in the palm fronds. Thoughts of azure lapis lazuli came to mind, and…