Poem for Jul 26



Personal Stanza


When Rama Raya comes to visit
he has a ritual of sitting on a park bench
that overlooks a vast agricultural field
that belonged to Martin Van Buren.
He sits there and watches the sun go
down while he chants. He showed
the spot to Natabara Gauranga,
and for the first time today, Natabara
went there by himself and enjoyed
the sacred aura of “Rama’s Space.”

Damodara Rati is arriving tonight
from England for a five-day visit.
She is a very faithful disciple.
She is entangled in court cases and
this is putting her through great stress.
I will try to counsel her.

Yesterday, we were surprised by a visit
from a nurse (R.N.), who was requested
to come by our primary care doctor.
What we really need is a physical therapist,
but none are available for three weeks.
The nurse was congenial, but there
wasn’t much he could do to deal with
my main problem. He noted that
my body is in a very run-down condition
due to lack of physical exercise. But I
seem unable to do any fitness workouts.
I can’t walk outdoors unless
I am supported by the hand
of another person, and even then
I can only endure it for a few minutes.
My legs get wobbly and I have to turn back.
I have a stationary bicycle in my room
and I used to use it twenty minutes a day.
I felt it was helping me, but lately
my legs feel so weak that I cannot use it.
I cannot pedal fast enough to keep
the “time” meter running.
It keeps turning off and I can’t
accumulate more than five minutes
at a time. It’s frustrating that I can’t
pedal for even twenty minutes.
I therefore have practically no
physical exercise in my life.
We are hoping the physical therapist
will help build me up by gradually
introducing physical exercise
back into my life. Until then,
I am somewhat desperate,
despite the nurse’s promised visits.