ANGLES AND LENSES — PICTURES, POETRY AND LIFE
Pines and Needles
Through deep pain comes deep clarity
Dark, foreboding clouds, gather in the sky.
All around me, I see only pines and needles.
They tear my skin, savagely stab my heart.
I try to run, but have no place to hide.
The lakes, the mountains have always been
my home; a sanctuary for my errant heart.
How could they desert, and turn on me so?
I feel completely forsaken; nowhere to go.
A bed of needles! Is that my reward?
For all those years of trusting and loving?
Was this the most important lesson then?
A certainty, ’twas time for me to comprehend?
Life is a relentless forest of pines and needles.
We attempt to find our way, the best we can.
They pierce our flesh and wound our hearts.
We try to escape, shut our eyes — disbelieving,
posturing, pretending, and make-believing —
surely the journey can’t be as bad as all that!
For pain is suffering and agony; a tribulation,
to be turned away from, at any and all cost.
How can one as dark, be the essence of living?
And yet, all wise men of yore, willingly walked
paths strewn with stones; pain their only consort.
Could there then be sagacity, in self-affliction?
Not all that is alluring, is in our best interest.
Not everything that dissuades, hurts us bad.
The saccharine sweetness of dessert destroys.
As does that of slippery, sweet-tongued foes.
’Tis true, pain is fearsome; it daunts and deters.
But when I hear its frightful knock, embrace it
I shall; honoured guest, companion of choice.
Same as I sanguinely swallow some bitter pills,
in the cherished hope, they lead to a hearty life.
The fear of pain might fill our hearts with dread.
Yet, it is deep pain, that clears the addled mind, and
pours forth, the sweet melody of our souls sublime…
— Aparna
My ‘Angles and Lenses’ series is my attempt to share snapshots, impressions and life lessons learnt during my travels around the world, and my journey through this life. I try to look at people and places from different perspectives — ‘Reality’ after all, can be quite subjective, depending on the lens we use, and the angle we use it at…
Click here to read more from this series.
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