At the Senior Center, we challenge stereotypes about old ladies. We practice yoga
outdoors for “social distance.” If it starts to drizzle, we ignore it. If it pours, we run for shelter.
Downward Dog—raise hips toward the sky. Walk the dog, extend one foot, then the other. After four
sessions, Alice is absent. Next time Alice and Pat are both no shows. The following week more are
missing. Finally, we’re down to two. We end with Savasana—the Corpse pose. Clouds drift slowly across
the sky—then we’re symbolically reborn. We close with Namaste. “The light in me honors the light in
you.” The Senior Center notifies me: “The class has been cancelled due to lack of attendance.”
Judith Beth Cohen’s novel Seasons (The Permanent Press of Sag Harbor, New York ), was first published in German translation by Rowohlt of Hamburg as part of their international New Woman Series, and has been reissued as an eBook. Her short fiction has appeared in The North American Review, New Letters, High Plains Literary Review, Sojourner, and other journals. Cohen’s new story collection Never Be Normal (2021) is available from Atmosphere Press.
