I felt the staccato snap of each vertebrae in my spine as I lengthened and then twisted my torso in Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) and wondered how much longer I could keep looking up at the ceiling before I lost all feeling in my neck.

The yogi urges me to take two more waves of breath and then release—slowly—back up to Virabhadrasana II (Warrior Two).

Pause.

Then I am exhorted to drop my right arm down and behind, grazing the back of my left thigh with my hand, and lift my left arm, shining my heart to the ceiling for Reverse, or Proud, Warrior.

I inhale,

then exhale,

then inhale and slowly straighten my left leg for Stargazer, my favorite pose because it reminds of you.

I imagine us both reaching for the stars, me metaphorically and you literally with your fancy camera and telescope.

The shutter of your camera snaps in time with each of my vertebrae.

***

I wrote this a few years ago in an online poetry class. I don’t know what you call it, if it’s a poem or just a bunch of sentences. The form was originally one paragraph but I like this better. I was practicing yoga one night at a local studio and, yes, thinking about my husband who was out in the wilderness taking photos of the stars.