Love Deeply But Dont let it Bind

As I lie on my deathbed
And you gingerly hold my hand
I know how much you love me
I truly understand

My heart wells up in tears
When I think I have to part
I cannot fathom how we
Will survive in worlds apart

We walked on flowering meadows
And we climbed mountains together
You were my loyal companion
Through good and stormy weather

My days rolled in your arms
You walked every step with me
Without your presence, I do not know
Who or what I might be

My life was amazingly beautiful
But I am tormented now
Seeing that death is going to snatch me
From your embrace somehow

I thought I was lucky to live
A life so wrapped in bliss
But never did I realize till now
That a double edged sword it is

The more my happy memories
The more I am suffering in pain
When I think that those sunny days
Will not come back again

Happy moments are not enough
Unless I master the art
To let go with grace and acceptance
When the time does come to part

Otherwise each joyful experience
Carries a dangerous dagger as well
That can tear open the longing heart
And cast it into hell

Savour the moment, and let it go
Love deeply, but don't let it bind
If we could develop this subtle skill
Peace we could probably find

A Confusion on Degrees

I was a child, a dreamy child
They held a painting contest
I splashed my colourful dreams on paper
Then they 'judged' someone's the best

I had tons of fun while drawing
And even more while colouring
But after they announced the prizes
I felt I was missing something

I looked at my colourful creation
And I wondered what was wrong
The joy was gone, the fun was gone
And confused I trudged along

Over years, the confusion vanished
And I collected many a degree
Academic, sports, and even yoga
So I could flaunt my pedigree

More years pass, the confusion comes back
For subtler the degrees now get
'Successful professional', a common one
Or the 'Happily Married' certificate

This time I will embrace with open heart
The gifts present in my confusion
This time I am able to recognize
That a degree belongs to an institution

If I reject the institution, I can reject the degree
I can reject the invitation to be judged
I can splash those colours on my canvas again
And rejoice in the way they are smudged

Rising From the Ashes

You were dying, or so I thought
I had given you up for dead
I did not think you stood a chance

Given how much you had bled

Caught up was I with my thoughts

Trapped by my own assumptions
Planning how to bury your body
How to manage my son's emotions

I stayed not with your suffering
I stayed not with your present
I ran, I hid, I got really busy

To avoid that painful moment

I saw not your wounds as they were
I only saw harbingers of death
As my mind raced into the future
Towards the certainty it seeketh

I waited and waited for the news
I waited for you to die
I waited for closure before I gave
Myself the permission to cry

But you dear wolfy, furry beast
You just turned that all around
You just kept breathing in and out
And slowly your rhythm you found

As the days and nights went slowly by
You breathed, and breathed some more
And then you sat and then you walked
And my every assumption you tore

Soon I noticed from the corner of my eye
You were not dying yet
Soon you even started eating
Without the intervention of a vet

Before my thinking mind could register
You were back on the street again
Running, barking, and sunning yourself
With no more trace of pain

You rose from the ashes, just like that
A phoenix right on our street
Resurrected by mother nature herself
You race on your doggy feet

What can I learn from your story
And what can I unlearn as well
Perhaps to step outside my thoughts
And the gloomy stories they tell

If you had believed, like I had
That you were going to die
Would you have lived to see today
And chase these butterflies by?

While I was worrying in my head
You stayed gently with your present
Though lying in your pool of blood
You did justice to each moment

You did not die, you are thriving
I wish you many more sunny days
And I am inspired to step outside

My mind’s soothsaying ways

This poem is inspired by 'Growly' a street dog who lives on our street and who made an amazing recovery after surviving a series of brutal attacks by a gang of other street dogs. Growly's neck was gashed and he was lying in a pool of blood and everybody thought he was dying. However, Growly showed amazing strength and resilience as he gradually limped back to existence. Today he runs and plays again, as energetic and lively as any dog can be.