The Silent Spectator

He lives his life quietly

No one understands what goes on

He stands by himself

Watching life, as it goes by

Many a years have passed

Many a lifetimes really

He stands silent without a sign

Not one emotion on his face

Try as you might

You can’t reach his mind

He stands unflinching

He stands calm and proud

The silent spectator

The enigma stands alone

Almost as famous as

The Monalisa smile

Mastered quickly the art of stone

Perfect, yet a line

A small frown on the forehead

Unknown to him, gave him out

Along came the chatter of life

The provider, the benefactor

A soul connection so powerful

Blood thicker than water

The baby brings a smile so wide

Life becomes totally worthwhile

The silent spectator stands by

As life overtakes him by surprise

Undead Soldier

Grit and courage for keeping quiet?

How can that ever be true?


That digs gaping holes in the soul


Feeling lost and alone


Losing strength, peace and calm


The undead soldier

Like the drought keeps the soil parched


Like the chilly wind goes to the bone


Like the flood takes everything in its path


Like the sun burns those who come close


Like the wailing of the endless night


Like the stopping of time

Life brings many joys


Shared thoughts, ideas and lives


The purpose is to gain as much


The purpose is to learn as much


Give and take cherished moments


The undead soldier

Like the fresh flowing river


Giving life along the way


Like the welcome monsoon rain


Spreading warmth and joy


Like the fluttering butterflies


In the sweet colourful spring

Undead soldier, sit up and notice


The true joy of the spirit


Warmth, love, companionship


Light, energy, healing


Forgiveness, acceptance, 


Sweet surrender

Courage comes from looking truth in the eye


Courage comes from honesty


Courage comes from deep within the heart


Courage comes from integrity


Courage comes from continuing to walk


Courage comes from living free

Unsaid

Shuttering, pricking, wavering, gasping, quivering and more

Feelings and emotions deep and resounding

She feels them, she holds them, she deals with them

Knowing the only way to deal with it is becoming aware

For actions, what can they do?

Only confuse, spoil, colour the existing

Into something so easily broken

And probably regretted forever

Deep sorrow, deeper joy

Tears flowing like a storm

As if the heavens have unleashed their wrath

As if a mother has lost her child

As if darkness has prevailed

As if the world is coming to a startling halt

As if a dam has been opened

Unexplainable silence, only silence

Closing yourself to being vulnerable

Or opening yourself to living life fully

Aware of every thought even if it briefly came and vanished

Is this really the point?

Or this is where free will rears its head

Goading, pressing forward, challenging to take the plunge

Cause destiny does not predict

Destiny only creates opportunities

What manifests is what actually is

She stares into nothingness

Looking ahead at what may be

Knowing that what is, is

Here and now

The future, only possibilities

The future only illusions

The future only dreams

Cause she hesitates to make it reality

Yearnings

Confluence of souls, Is it?

Or just being?

Misty meadows, greenest greens

Cosmos on Earth, Isn’t it?

They say there is a purpose

They say there is a contract

They say there is a reason

Unknown?

Strange beckonings

Strange yearnings

They say it isn’t strange

They say nothing, really

Social settings, 

rudimentary rules

Forever binding

Forever blue

What lies ahead?

What lies beneath?

I often wonder

We mortal beings

Slightly aware

Living many lives

Building a web

Illusions galore

Mocks life

Is life, life?

As we see it

Or is it just the mind?

Isn’t that the illusion after all?

The Sailor

Around the world many times over

Searching for something unknown
The sailor travels far and wide
Alone

Many a stranger, he befriends

Many stories up his sleeve
Hard work and passion
His love for the sea

He leads a lonely life

Far too early for his years
The rising sun and the Orion, his friends
The horizon up ahead

Glittering lights of the ports

Some time off with the ale
Still searching far and wide
Still searching for his soul

Finally he hangs his cap

Back at his home and hearth
Still searching far and wide
Still lonely, still alone

He tries to open his heart

He tries a conventional life
He struggles, he tries again
Still searching for his sea

Rules we live by..

Over the last few days I have been thinking deeply about the rules we make in our lives, our own moral code of conduct. What is right? Who we should speak with? Why? What should be our environment like? What programs on TV our kids need to watch? How should we approach and manage relationships (that are naturally complex!)? etc etc…

I was watching a complicated Bollywood flick that opened my eyes to this fact! Right and wrong is so dependent on the perspective of the person looking at the situation. It’s all so true and so relative, this right and wrong. And isn’t life relative? Why then are we so firm on our rights and wrongs in life? More importantly, in all our relationships, we impose our rights and wrongs on somebody else who may never see something the way we see them!

We may often have a knowing of this at the gut level. But how many of us actually respect this for what it is and not impose it on others? Why should everybody else live on the rules we create for them? Or for ourselves that others are forced to live by because we love them or they are important to us? As I became more and more conscious of this, I realized my own set of rules that I may inadvertently impose on others and started questioning them. Is it because of our needs, our expectations of others? Is it because we feel we know it best based on our experience in life?

Why not let go and let people be as they are? Why not accept people for who they are and respect their perspective of things? Why not appreciate another point of view and evaluate our lives and our expectations of things in this new light? Would this not make things easier for us and for people around us? Or do you think it will further complicate our already exciting lives? Is acceptance of each other  necessarily be driven by how we want things to be driven?

Most importantly should we not try and give to the limit acceptable to us basis the needs of the other? And when it crosses our acceptable level of tolerance (as per our rules), stop but communicate why. Would that not help us have better happier times with people around us?