Big Foot

They are locked in, Oh!!


The doorkepper's
feet are twelve
yards long ! ten shoe -


makers used five
oxhides to cobble
sandals for them!!

The Edge

Come to the edge, he said
We are afraid, they said
Come to the edge, he said
They came to the edge
He pushed them and they flew"



(Guilliame Apollinaire, 1880-1918, French poet)

Salvation

When I was relatively young I WAS HARD AND ANGRY.

I could walk away from any face, no matter how full of pain, sadness or pleading. I could close my eyes to children, who were being sold in the night. or to those whose limbs were trimmed so they could beg -- those who soon lost their trueborn smile (that every child is born with).

I could stare unblinkingly at the starving who sat outside the temple or mosques; those who were not with us any more, not men or women but expresionless bundles of skin and bones.

I could push torn women, who were crawling weighed down by their hungry infant sons, out of my path when necessary, or step around heroin addicts who were bleeding to death.

You see I was angry then, I did not see people underneath all the filth.

Nothing mattered because there was much that did.

I made money though. Hard Cash, every bit of it a reward for my indifference. But soon I found that I became indifferent to myself, that I would not accept my own need to laugh, to cry, to release my breath and take in everything outside that was already a part of me. I was emotionally numb.

I had become a shell, like the starving ones. But things are different now.
I am not sure what changed me. I know it happened when I went to visit my dying grandmother in our anscesteral village just before she passed away.

Maybe it was what she said about my eyes. She said that they reflected like dirty water: hiding the organism inside, not letting light through.. Or, maybe it was the quiet serenity of the lush green countryside that made my frustrations spill out; the limp coolness of the Mango Grove, the warm embrace of the lush green grass on my naked feet.

But I began to feel sick there... When I tried to sleep, all the faces I had ignored came back to me. I thought my mind would heal itself if I stayed away ferom the city. But they kept reappearing night after night relentlessly. So I did return to face my demons.

Now I am much softer. The faces do not gatecrash into my dreams any more like uninvited guests, because I speak to them everyday on the street, do my little bit for easing their pain and suffering.

Yes, I am no longer distant on the streets to my fellows.

I listen, I blink, I give, I smile, a word of comfort before I am on my way because I would like to think that there MUST be a way out of here for all Mankind & what has become of our society.

Only that smile on their faces or that return of their trueborn happiness even if it comes back for a fleeting moment...just that moment is what I get in return for showing a little compassion.....but it is enough...it is my salvation to all those years of indifference....

You...Only You

You came here of your own accord
and are lost in yourself;
I know not what you search, or who.
If I want anyone it is you,
If I want to see anyone it is you.
You are the desire of my heart and my eye’s prayer.

Savour It

From her place in the shadows, the woman wills you to explore deeper and lose yourself in the green wood. Let your life merge with this fecund world that alludes to all seasons.

Dark branches festooned with garlands of verdant leaves all traced with the autumn shades of gold and burnt umber. Tangled roots and stinging nettles, heavily scented by decaying leaves, guard the sleeping, infant seeds of spring. It is our life and we have to live it in the NOW.

Enjoying the pleasures of watching cherry blossoms bloom & fall at the height of their beauty. Glorious to see autumn leaves fall.

What is NOW will pass into memory tomorrow but we would have been more blessed to have seen the poignant beauty that the things in nature make us aware of, while also making us aware of being alive and be counted amongst the living..

To seek solace in parting with your beloved, to calmly bear the loss of beauty.



After all sometimes....just sometimes....there is great beauty & purity in death too.





When In the garden, enjoy every moment
Every moment of every day.
Spring passes into summer,
and summer into autumn,
And all the flowers of Henna
Shall wither away...


- Alamgir Aurangzeb





.

Here & Now.....

Travel has played an important part in my life. Travel has been my vehicle to look outward. It has kept me going. There is always one more place to see, one more road to traverse. There is always an in built goal. Aside from all the solace it has provided, it has helped continually redefine myself. I can only guess the Transformative power of grander passions.

Take chances; to not do so kills the spirit. Live on the edge a bit, peer over the proverbial cliff's edge and feel the adrenalin pumping ever so often. Ask for that promotion. Propose to that girl you've always had a soft corner for. Don't let go of your passions even at your low points; these are what sustain you. And forr your own sakes put your past mistakes behind you. You win some. You lose some: That's just the way the cookie crumbles.

CONCENTRATE ON THE HERE AND NOW.


















The Epic of Gilgamesh, speaks across to us across the centuries on the meaning of it all.

When Gilgamesh goes in search of eternal life, he is advised by SIDURI, the wine maker, to accept mortality and live in the here and now: to dance and be merry, to rejoice and make his wife happy in his embrace, to take delight in a child holding his hand as all life is transitory.

Wise words to live by....I intend to do just that....

mooning

Awed by her splendour
Stars near the lovely
moon cover their own
bright faces

when she
is roundest and lights
earth with her silver