Extremes

The other day I was sipping tea by my balcony's window,

You know those languid hours, when ideas mostly come and go,

A strong wind swept across the trees, making them howl and bend a little low,

It just left me wondering, what really distinguishes a compassionate presence from just bland ego.

Why is cool such a nice way to be, yet cold is utterly frowned upon,

Why love always feels so warm, but hot is all about temper preferred to be long gone,

Breezes are always so gentle and moving, but winds keep howling in turbulence,

Good memories serve as gentle reminders of hope, yet trauma is reminiscent of a past quite violent.

Morning sunshine inspires us all, yet the afternoon heat scorches us to shreds,

Gentle showers revive us from despair, but violent rains wash away everything in floods.

Extremes and temperance, much like yin and yang,

Prevail through our lives and nature, just like the two parallel riverbanks,

Extremes create and destroy in abundance,

Temperance manages the in-betweens, making for great indulgence,

It is but human nature to always shun pain and yearn for pleasure,

Little do we know that they draw from the same source, they are a part of the same treasure.

Untoward ways of life

Rise from the ashes, why don’t you? 

Why the ashes, you’ll ask, won’t you? 

That which no more serves you has been burnt down, you can see, can’t you? 

A new self shall emerge from the ashes, that’s why the ashes, they are for the ‘new’ you. 

The seasons, nature’s playful art, are there for all of us to celebrate: 

Some moments happy, some sad, others awful, a few even great! 

But even there, the spring proceeds the autumn, blooming in all its glory around, 

The dry wilted leaves need to be shed down, for the fresh new ones to grow abound. 

After the previous, comes the next, the next leads to something even more away, 

These cycles, so many, sometimes lead us to light, at times make us go astray. 

Never ending are these plays, confusing us to the core, right or wrong, what do we do? 

Do we embrace the next, or should we hold on, where do we go? 

We are mere characters in the grand scheme of things, so they say:

It’s cruel to imagine that one thing has to die for something else to find its way, 

Sadly, all of the attachments would then always end in pain, all the love and memories would finally go vain, 

Perhaps that’s the lesson, painful yet profound, we all leave everything behind; loss is a way to a new gain.

Toxic

Toxic, wow I love that word, 

Labels chase you everywhere, quite absurd! 

Everything that fails must be toxic, 

And everything that shines is clean, 

Doesn't really add up, nothing's all toxic and not every shine is all that clean. 

Between 'what is' and 'what should be', there's a thin line: 

This side you are forever tormented, the other side you end up just fine. 

This side you are totally toxic, that side quite clean, 

This side you embrace the darkness, that side has its own sheen. 

The Judges, they sit in the heavens, their messengers: they are all around, 

All of them unappointed, their judgements all flawed, yet they float abound. 

The sun shining through the morning sky, the moon engulfed in the night's gloom, 

Both are innocent souls: one gets the light, the other haunted by perpetual doom. 

Destiny gets decided in the heavens, they say: must be quite a sight, 

One's black, the other grey, some are even white! 

Angles and Demons: sometimes opposites yet sometimes they are the same, 

An Angel if what it does bears fruit, a demon if it goes vain.

Us

All Art, no matter how insufferable, matters. Art Credit: Aman Saxena.

                                                     

I wonder why I won't let you go,

Why do I keep being with you just like a string with a bow?

What's that bond which binds me to you,

What makes me think that, perhaps, you feel it too?

 

Times, they are changing, you feel really stuck,

You still have memories, those you couldn't just chuck;

You go around with friends, none know how you feel,

You go about life, as if you were a part of some show reel.

 

It pains me to see you so, my love it just feels shaken,

To see you this way, to see that you'll eventually be taken :(

I just wish wherever you are, you find some happiness,

Some respite from the dreary madness.

 

As for me, I might just manage to be myself,

I don't know if that’s of any worth to you, or your future self;

I wish you always run back to me, to seek that love, that shelter within me,

I wish you too feel what you have always just seen in me.