Yoga for caterpillars

I arrive at class

alone
          tired
                    and ugly

my hair is too short
my face looks funny
I see beautiful and strong people around me
and a reflection of someone who is unfashionable and fat

look to the sky
breathe

reaching for my ankles, my back resists
reaching again, it yields a little
stretching right and then left
my concerns fall with my sweat
land on my towel
                                   and disappear

sixty minutes in
soaking wet
on my knees, I lean back and open my chest
hands on my ankles
my heart opens too

bones to skin

the beautiful and strong people around me become
just people
also struggling to get through class

heart pounding
head buzzing
(just breathe)

and then we're there
lying on our mats
soaking wet

open

one by one
they pick up their mats and leave quietly

I look at my reflection
I am

alone
          tired
                    and beautiful