Little things matter 🌼
I’m delighted to announce that my fourth poem has been selected and published in Spillwords. I wrote this poem around two years ago and is related to the importance of letting go so that we can give happiness to others and find one in ourselves.
I have attached the link to Spillwords.com if you would like to read it. I hope that you will enjoy it.
The Kite
JMJ
Once full of life,
It gave lives to many,
Sunshine was its friend,
Who used to put happiness on its face,
And breeze its companion,
With whom it loved to dance.
Then the time changed,
Starting to change its colour,
Was the first sign of ageing,
Now the sunshine was nomore tender,
And the breeze transformed into storm.
Disgraced and battered,
It fell on the ground,
Lying there,
It was stepped by many,
But it took that chance to leave an imprint,
On their path forever.
-JMJ
My 7 year old daughter told me a story recently. She is really good in making up stories and comes up with something new very often. Now this one was about a turtle which couldn’t swim. The story goes like this…..
Once, there lived a turtle on a rock near to the pond. He used to cry everyday looking at the water. One day, a crow saw him crying and asked the reason. He said that he is a turtle but cannot swim. This makes him sad and that is why he is crying. Then the crow said, “I can only teach you fly, sorry.” After saying that the crow flew away.
After a few days, one of the fishes in the pond saw him crying. Fish asked him about the reason for being so sad. He said, “I’m a turtle but I cannot swim.” Fish said, “You cannot swim because you are not trying enough. You just sit on the rock and cry all day. That is not going to make you swim. You need to try harder.” Listening to that, he became sadder and started to cry louder.
Then, one day, he saw a happy tortoise walking slowly near the pond nibbling flowers and leaves. At that moment, he realised that he couldn’t swim because he was not a turtle, he was a tortoise!
The story is short and simple. But, it has a huge lesson to give us. It’s about self awareness. We will be crying all our lives thinking about all the things that we cannot do or we don’t have if we don’t know exactly who we are just like that tortoise who thought it was a turtle. With self awareness, we learn our own strengths and weaknesses which in turn helps in our own development.
This story, also teaches us that unless we help ourselves no-one can help us in understanding the real us. Our family, friends, neighbours and colleagues can only give their own views and perceptions about us which may not be true. The act of gaining self awareness may take time and energy as you will have to go through a lot of reflection and introspection but it is worth it for all good reasons.
I don’t know how a 7 year old can come up with something like this, but, she surprises me everyday. And I’m, just a proud mom.
-JMJ
Do you see me?
Standing on the side,
Without any movements.
May be I'm just a pole,
With a bulb on my head.
With no special traits to attract,
But to just give all the light that I can.
When you struggle in darkness,
To show you the way,to avoid any harm.
So the next time you pass by,
At the very least, can you acknowledge my existence?
Do you see me now?
-JMJ
Sitting in my comfortable couch,
Trying to get a solution for my boredom,
I changed channels from one to another,
That's when,I heard shrieking from men and women,
From a land far away.
Carrying there children in their hands,
They are rushing to get all the help they can have,
Those children have deep hollow eyes,
And with just skin and bones,
We can count the ribs that they have got.
While the governments are busy to show off their political strength and power,
Parents are selling children to satiate their hunger,
They go door to door to ask if anyone needs a child,
So that they can find some money to feed another child.
Mothers are helpless
Fathers are hopeless,
Public is clueless,
Governments show no remorse as if they are guiltless,
And me, writing a poem on it is pointless!
Unless,
We satisfy those hungry eyes and stomach with love and food regardless,
Of age,caste,creed,color, nationality, religion or sex.
-JMJ
Fallen leaves lying down in disgrace,
While waiting to be crumbled and crushed by others,
They feel the ground, so cold and dead,
And see the grey sky with no ray of hope.
They remember the spring when they were new and fresh,
So beautiful, green and tender,
They were the best companions of the tree whom they adored,
And shared everything with each other so that they could grow.
Then came the summer where they loved to give shelter,
To everyone who came to them from the scorching sun,
Or from the downpour in June,
Their compassion and care helped others to live, love and breed.
In autumn, they brought colors into life,
The trees adorned them like precious ornaments,
Enjoying everyone's attention and praise,
They were at their peak.
Then, they started to fall,
Some even didn't try,
But others gave a fight with the wind,
Not willing to let go off that tiny little connection with their mate.
Lying on the ground they can see the bare tree, their old companion,
The squirrels, birds and the insects to whom they gave shelters to,
And the people who found shade under them too.
So now, they are waiting for winter eagerly,
To cover themselves with snow,
To erase all the memories,
To forget and to be forgotten.
-JMJ
Last night I saw you on my way,
Talking to someone and walking away,
I saw you were all smiling and happy with your life,
While you made me to think all about my life.
Last night I saw you turned to look at me,
And your helpless eyes spoke to me,
I felt a twitch in my heart as I saw the sea infront of you,
Were you happy for yourself or for someone that you knew?
Last night I saw that you were saying goodbye,
While wind whispered in my ears all the secrets of your eye,
In that cold dark night I saw your tears coming through,
Last night I think I dreamt of you.
-JMJ
With a flawless skin which has no sign of aging,
And dark long hair which can be really engaging,
Deep blue eyes which has an ocean inside,
Anyone would love to dive in without knowing what is inside,
She has a perfect smile that can lit up the sky,
But with a dark heart reflecting all the evils under the sky.
Other one is an epitome of ugliness that's how the world see,
With no facial features or perfect teeth,
People love to swipe quickly as her picture comes on screen,
But her acts of kindnesses are always honoured behind the screen.
Her eyes are doves symbolizing peace and love,
And hands so warm that can calm any storm with a touch or a hug,
She is a free spirit woman who you can never tame,
So, if I want to define beauty what it would be?
-JMJ
Something strange happened today,
I got a smile for the rest of the day,
We met a charming lady on our way to the shop,
While I was rushing through and said my girl to chop chop.
This woman at an elderly age,
Was sitting on a wheelchair and looked like a sage,
She waved,smiled and gave my child a shake hand,
It gave me a feeling like someone has already planned,
To meet a stranger and to make my day,
I would love to meet a stranger like her everyday.
-JMJ
When you are physically and mentally tired and all you need is something that can lift you up, what will you choose?
What I do is, I search for my pencils and when I find them, then it’s sketch time. So, here is my sketch today.
Hope you will like it.
A Life's Journey 