The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering ..
~ Ben Okri ~
To rise past all
That’s dares to smoother
The layers on layers
Commitments and constraints
To float above
The threat that tugs
The ties and chains
Of bonds and relations
To fly over
The snares invisible
The smoke and mirrors
The lies and illusions
Ah what relief
When the truth be known
To free my wings
To uncage my heart
What a virtue, what a trait
Independence!
Encouraged, applauded
Even envied
To stand on your own feet
To make and pave your own way
To rely on not a single soul
What an accomplishment!
But wait a minute!
Do you even open your eyes
Unless the sun
Comes peeking at your window
Bringing you a new day
How would you even get to bathe
Had the clouds not emptied
Or the snow not melted
So the streams could run and reservoirs rise
How would you smell your morning coffee
Had the sub-equatorial lands
Not grown and reaped the beans
Ground and brewed in your Keurig
What clothing would you don
Had the cotton not been picked
The yarns not been spun
Garments not been stitched
So in true essence
Are we really ‘independent’?
Or are we ‘interdependent’!
And if so, what have we understood?
Do we accept and realize
Our co-existence
Our co-dependency
Our inherent need for allegiance
With the natural world
The countries we have created
To our neighbors
To our own selves!
Taken for a ride
By the good old ego
We pride ourselves
With a claim to independence
Yet looking deeper
Within and around
We are part of a whole
Where even a breath
Is not under our control
The gift of all gifts
Sent magically into your being
Silently with no fanfare
It’s time to question
Time to ponder and reflect
What an incredible existence
Where everything is so magnanimous postured
That blinded we have become
To the interconnections
That’s serve to sustain
Our universal existence
Time to wake up
Not to just smell the roses
But care for the roses
And all else on this blue planet
Two mortals align
Embracing the immortal
Beauty beyond time
Unequivocal beauty
Blooming grace, like a dance
Drawing riches from the terra
Your petals defy the science
Fluttering delicately
Like wings of the butterfly
Yet with the strength of an army
You win each battle for my heart
How gloriously you entrance me
Leading back to simplicity of gratitude
Smiling outside and inward
Warmth of omnipresence made tangible
Photo by TW
In the grand scheme of this intriguing play
Perhaps we are insignificant
Like the little robin
In just another tree
Yet during the play
How positioned is he and we
To enjoy the array of fleeting pleasures
Dancing on the stage
From a hedge of roses
To fields of tulips
Mountain sides of poppies
And lakes skimmed with lotus
Where ever you may be
Rural or urban
Rustic or pristine
Don’t miss the current act
As some plays have one or two
Some three or four
But what is unknown
Is how many is yours!
Amidst the barren Trees, and dark threatening clouds, Gentle light prevails
