We promise we won’t fall We promise we won’t go down When we know that gravity is not on our side And sometimes nature itself Brings us down
Gravity keeps us in place But sometimes pulls us down And tips the balance of life Against us
But the stars and planets And invisible forces and dust And everything around us To outer space To things yet to be named Are kept in place Because of gravity
Do we hate gravity Or do we thank gravity After everything that has happened
Or do we accept the inevitable That gravity will always pull us down And we can’t work against it For gravity works not in spite, But in line with nature.
Many times while packaging puzzles in life, a couple of pieces are misplaced. They end up in the midst of a puzzle where all of the pieces piece to form a picture, but them. We try to fit these pieces in the puzzle, in spare space. We try, but in vain.
That piece cannot be re-shaped or painted again. It cannot be discarded and exchanged. So that piece picks itself up and goes in search for a puzzle where it can fit in. It sees many puzzles in progress, and learns a lot while searching.
There will come a day when the piece finally finds its puzzle. It greets the rest and joins as a stranger, but is soon family. Sometimes it’s nice to be part of something bigger, it would think. It’s nice to have a place to be useful, and to help out.
What it won’t realize is that whilst looking at all the puzzles from a distance, they all form a bigger picture. A bigger picture that only few are fortunate to see, and what it often called the truth. Alas, we can only do so much. Sometimes, it is enough that we find a picture to be part of.
The current is too strong And useless to fight against It’s useless to try and find The last ounce of courage one has When all is lost And nothing can be done
I’m resigned to my fate As dark as it seems I know I will drown If not today, tomorrow Or the day after that
It’s a ticking clock Mocking me Betting when I will fall And surrender to the tide Enveloped by the sea
I’m trying to keep afloat And hang on to whatever little rock I can grasp But I can’t hang on forever Nature will win this war As it has on countless occasions
The tiny speck that is me Will no longer be seen in the ocean Holding on for dear life But will be lost in the waves Aching to get back But knowing one cannot defy nature.
Every year on our birthdays, we cut a cake and blow out candles to make a wish. Every year we wonder how time flies by so quickly and how the next year is already here. We forget ourselves in celebration and joy, and accept the new us the we find. We don’t realize it, but we’ve changed.
We feel a pang of nostalgia while looking at albums, but we brush it away. We get excited when the radio plays an old song, and try to sing along. But before we begin, we catch ourselves and bottle up enthusiasm.
We don’t get why we see sudden flashbacks, and see familiarity all around us. Nothing seems new anymore, and everything has already been explored. We try to force joy into places where it doesn’t belong. And sometimes we just fling ourselves on a bed, and wonder what’s wrong.
At our next birthday, we smile at known faces and remember how everything was. How everything was before it changed. Before one had to think a million times before before doing something. Before everything became so complicated. We reminisce and open ourselves more every time. Till we are able to stifle a laugh and hold back a tear without falling deep into the abyss of nostalgia.
This is a poem about how someone feels when they have found a group of people they can trust. A group of people whom they can rely upon, and never let go. A group of people who will be happy for them, and make them feel safe.
CAMPFIRE
The fire lit up everyone’s faces as they grinned at me Laughing at an anecdote I barely remembered Their eyes glinting with genuine joy reminding me that I was not alone I was among different people who cared about me And wouldn’t leave me stranded in a desert left to stare at the stars
The fireflies buzzed and wove around us Almost binding us with invisible energy And calling fate and destiny and all superstitious beings to look upon us Since we were tightly knitted and would never let another fall
A couple of us gathered around blazing sparks Not knowing where life would take us but knowing that we were together at the moment Lying in an atmosphere of unspoken promises Having the time of our lives and enjoying friendship
For a moment I took a step back and looked at life Looked at smiles and animated talking Looked at the dancing and toasts And though not participating in conversation Felt truly included
And I knew that whatever happened We would still be together And everything would still be okay Even if we did fall apart, we’d heal
This is who we were, the ones who stuck close and had each other’s backs We found happiness in every place we could And enjoyed the thrill of life
We were there because we wanted to be there for one another We weren’t obliged to sing around a campfire We did it because we were true to ourselves And we would always be.
I remember you giving me A tiny shred of your life And making me promise I would keep it safe And never let it get lost in the wind
You packed everything you owned And set out to ‘explore’ Leaving me behind Without any hint of your intentions Except for the crude note you left
I should have known That you never kept promises But I tried to keep mine For reasons unknown to me
I went out to the sea And watched the wind blow and tempt me To open the jar and hurl your shred Into the gusts that howled And made me want to howl out loud
But I knew it You were never coming back You probably were settled and happy And have forgotten about me I was an obstacle in your path And you stepped on me And I was bruised
So I threw your shred into the winds And watched as nothing happened Ignoring the prayer that a part of mind insisted on saying And making a note To never let myself fall like this Ever again.
The Magician hides his secrets Refusing requests Not heeding constant pleas Turning his back upon his audience Who wish to know how he had warped reality
The final bow on stage Is greeted by the silence of being spellbound And a thundering applause But the Magician is ushered away And he disappears Before the crowd gets any idea of where he vanished Lest they corner him And force him to reveal his secrets
The audience must know How a human Can perform such feats How a human Can make reality seem like an illusion And get away with it
How can a human hide the entirety of the hour Under his sleeve And call it a day After making jaws drop And hearts pound
Still, the Magician’s tricks and charms Will die with him For despite his wants to reveal himself He must be concealed Else he might fall.
I looked around myself But it was as if I was blinded By a supreme force Who had stolen all my senses And left me with emptiness to ponder upon
My mind was falling apart I cradled the last few pieces left In the puzzle of my brain
I tried to sew myself together With used thread and a blunt needle In an attempt to gather sanity But each stitch tore me apart even more
An invisible hand reached inside me And pulled my heart out I fell to the ground Gaping at the hole in my chest That reminded me I was mortal
I would not live Not after falling I could not live Not after failing
I grasped the empty air In hopes to find a hand That could help me up But the hope slipped through my fingers And poison took aim
I still squint my eyes To scour the path Searching for help that would never come Fearing the unknown that was bound to follow And finally giving in to the darkness
We start everyday holding on. We hold on to our loved ones to make sure they don’t leave. We hold on to the world to make sure we don’t miss it. We hold on to ourselves so we don’t fall. We juggle our tasks and go on to the next puzzle of life.
Sometimes our hands are sore from holding on. Our bodies ache from constant pressure. We want to let go of everything, even if it is for a minute, to rest. We do that. We flop onto the bed and stare at the ceiling, feeling all worries slip away.
Sometimes we push ourselves. We don’t heed our tiredness, or the need for sleep. We struggle and make our way through the maze. We do everything that can be done. And we don’t stop, we never rest. We feel like stopping, but we are attracted to more commitments and we wind up on our feet at all times.
Sometimes we don’t know what to hold on to. Everything we need in not in our reach. Everything we have is to heavy to hold on to. We look around helplessly, unsure of what to let go of to reach what we need. We trudge through life and finally find something stable to hold on to. We hold on tightly, and when we let go we don’t feel relieved. We feel pain.
Everyday, we are being handed things to hold on to. We are making promises, and nodding at everything. We don’t fully comprehend what goes on but we go with it. We don’t know what pain is, or what relief is. But the day we do come to know, we feel like letting go. And we never can.
