Chasing Sunshine

I stand back

To view the canvas,

A veritable plethora

Of resplendent colours;

Every imaginable hue,

Shades of red, yellow, green and blue,

Splattered across.

Yet despite the obvious chaos,

I see order –

I see the beauty

That the artist’s brushstrokes

Convey to me.

But try as I might,

I cannot determine,

The colour of the backdrop,

Whether black, or white –

It could have been

Either of these,

Or something in between;

It is totally lost

Behind the delightful host

Of brilliant hues.

I realize,

That this canvas

Is much like life,

Whether it began with a spark,

Or entrenched in blues,

What it turns out to be,

A dull grey or a verdant green,

Is up to you and me.

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I remember the time

When my younger self,

All of four or five,

Would watch in fascination,

The eternal dance

Of a battalion

Of miniscule warriors –

Dust particles,

As they traipsed along

The glorious sunbeam,

To the rhythm of a song

I couldn’t hear.

It has been

A long time since then,

And I do not often

Think back to those days,

When I watched the mites,

Dancing along the sunrays

Shining in,

But when I do,

I almost always,

Allow myself

The pleasure of a smile,

As I bask in the warmth,

Of a memory stolen

From the annals of time.

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Look for the stories

That breathe fire

Into your listless soul,

Look for the stories

That inspire,

The stories that send a thrill

Down that dark hole

Void of hope,

Which you haven’t

Been able to fill,

No matter how hard you try.

Give yourself a second chance,

Lay down the melancholy,

And choose to dance,

To retreat

And find your peace.

Shirk the shroud

Of ignominy,

Wipe the unbidden tears,

Quell the deepest fears;

Shed it all –

And instead,

Breathe life into a story

That’s different,

And full of glory,

One that’ll make you proud;

Write a story

Like only you can,

Know it is your right,

For this is your life.

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A bell goes off in the distance,

Sending a swarm of students,

Milling out of classrooms

Onto the playground;

Some gather around

To talk in a small group,

While others troop

To play some game,

All around, there’s fun and laughter

Or so you’d think;

But not if your eyes strayed

To the fringe,

Where the outliers stay

Close enough to each other

So as to not stand out,

And yet far apart

From everyone else,

Just as they’ve been from the onset.

They watch, and they smile

From time to time,

But mostly, they sigh –

A deep sigh of longing;

For these moments

That are meant to be enjoyed,

Seem ever so much like a burden

That weighs down

On their lonesome selves.

Image Credit: Photo by Candace McDaniel on StockSnap

All these nuggets

From the distant past

That come rushing in

Like shrapnel from a blast,

But at times

A gentler trickle

Seeping in through random crevices –

No matter though, their flow

They are fickle,

Or at least, the lighter

Of them are;

Although,

The intense ones,

That evoke emotions

Often hard to bear,

Tend to linger,

Like dark storm clouds

Pregnant with moisture,

Awaiting the right moment

To cave in,

And inundate

Your sense of control,

Over your fate.

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The flowers bloomed

In gay abandon

All together

‘Neath the sun and the moon,

Except the single stalk

That stood aloof,

When the wind blew,

And swept through

That vast expanse

Of floral mass,

They bent low

All together,

And though sideswept,

They withstood

The worst weather,

Except the single stalk

Which was felled forever,

Having had no support.

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The path you are on

On your morning run,

Is as narrow

As much as it is strenuous –

And yet, you soldier on;

There are no fellow runners

For as far as you can see,

And the one or two you meet

Eventually,

Pause long enough

To greet,

All you have going for you

Is yourself,

You carry your own water,

Your shades and GPS,

You sing to still your fear

Of getting lost,

You sing so loud, you’re sure

Someone will hear

And sing along,

But no, there’s nothing,

Except for the birdsong.

You keep at it

For you’re so far in,

That you can only finish

What you’ve begun,

And so you run;

And somewhere along the way

You realize,

That you are having fun,

That there is joy

In being on your own,

With the birds and the trees

To keep your dreary soul company.

Image Credit: Photo by Sergei Gussev on StockSnap

If I had a daughter
We would play together,
Seeking fairies
In the wild bushes,
We would run
In a field of dandelions,
And build castles,
Lots of them –
On the beach, and in the air;
I would braid her hair,
And we’d eat all the candy floss,
At the annual fair.

If I had a daughter,
I would teach her,
To take what is hers
Without fear,
To speak up –
For herself and for those around,
To pick her battles,
And win them.

If I had a daughter,
I would teach her
To be bold,
And not do only what she’s told,
I’d teach her to just ignore
The naysayers,
The well wishers,
The worldly wise,
The young, the old,
And the religious folks –
All of whom
Would try to break her,
So they could mold
A young person
Into one, of their liking –
Docile and subservient.

If I had a daughter,
I would tell her
To give the vicious world
Her anger,
I would fuel her hunger
To grab her place,
Her rightful place –
At the table, the banquet hall or the space!
Wherever it is,
That she believes,
She will find peace,
And happiness, lots of it!

Image Credit: Photo by Candace McDaniel on StockSnap

The piece of your heart

That desires peace,

Is outweighed by others;

One burdened by hurt,

And another,

By deep, unspoken fears.

For mere desires,

Cannot douse

The fiery reality

Of roaring fires;

That rage within,

They can only be quelled,

When the throbbing

Is finally stilled.

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The little sailboat

Tried to stay afloat,

Despite being caught

In the throes of a storm;

It tried so hard,

Braving the waves

That tossed it around,

Even upside down,

Until at last

Its weakened mast,

Gave in,

And the storm scored a win;

While the sailboat

Lay broken in defeat,

Carried away

By the ravenous waves,

That will not remember

That brave little warrior,

And yet, it did exist.

Image Credit: Photo by Louise Hill on StockSnap