I saw a rock,
Sitting still,
Next to a stream.
Icy water flowed
Through this stream,
Melting from the snow,
Which was higher up the hill.
I had descended
From this hill,
Covered in a blanket of snow.
The rock looked at me & said,
Come, let’s spend a moment.
I know it’s really crowded out there,
It’s a little noisy too.
But no one’s here.
If you sit on this flat surface,
look the other way,
All of that is left behind.
And so I sat,
Without much thought,
Or maybe just a few.
So much plastic waste,
Stuck alongside this stream.
What did we make of this place,
We call ‘heaven on earth’?
We fought so much for you?
And then this is how we treat you?
Anyway, you still keep flowing,
Just the way you’re meant to.
Too many chaotic thoughts,
Too much philosophy.
Didn’t I intend to sit here
Just for some quiet & peace?
So I closed my eyes,
took a deep breath.
Oh, I’m breathing in paradise,
Another conscious breath,
Then I was unconscious,
Of where, what how.
No thoughts,
no awareness of self,
Until some unknown force,
Opened up my eyes.
It seemed as if I was seeing the stream
For the first time
now.
It seemed as if I wasn’t sitting here.
I came from nowhere,
found myself on this rock.
Wow! I thought my first thought.
This place is truly magical.
Even after a lot of meditation,
And practice of concentration,
I rarely reach a state like this.
So I closed my eyes again,
I opened my eyes again.
Views of the snow on the top of the hill,
Flashed before my eyes.
Then I got up & walked back,
Into the crowd,
Lost myself again.
Not the same way,
I did on the rock..
By Mamta (India)