After thinking so much about the vulnerability of the body yesterday, I woke up today to the horrible news of the bombings in London. So many innocent bodies destroyed, injured, traumatized. I hate how war and other terrorist acts target our vulnerable living, breathing bodies to make ideological statements (and when I say bodies, I am including the minds and spirits so entwined in our flesh.) These idealogues are so detached from the native wisdom and compassion of the body, they have no compunction about harming other bodies--bodies to them are numbers, objects, rather than sentient beings with memories and desires and dignity.

My poem The Body Politic of Peace addresses this, in a way. It was lovely to do a search online and discover that the poem has been used by yoga studios and churches and other spiritual centers as a meditation.

May we as a people some day learn to live together, and in our own bodies, in peace.