'CONCENTRATION' CAMP

When I was a kid
My father, an odd man
Who was also a yoga instructor
(Though he had taught very few
Except for us kids.)
Would teach us yoga,
And we soon left it
Not because we wanted to
But because we couldn't find
Any time for it
And didn't think it
To be of any importance, maybe.

Recently
An old friend called me
And asked me how I liked yoga
I said, with some nostalgia
'Ya, it reminds me of father
And my early childhood.'
Come then, for we are having a 'Yoga day'
And if it reminds you of childhood,
Come and be with us.

I went there
And I saw big brother
On the wall
And he was asking us
To concentrate.
I looked around me
And could see that between the breathing exercises
And the long rows of people
Who wouldn't look around
There was something that we had missed.

The master noticed my looking around
And repeated his earlier command for me
"Concentrate"
And I couldn't
And stood up
And told myself:
Oh, I never knew
That I was at a
'Concentration' camp!