friends / strangers

the last week of October. a time of hazy clouds. of morning dreams that remain in my memory, sharp like the silhouette of trees against dawn. here is one.

a Northern island. a trek. leading from forest to a ruin. up a hill. and from there, with a speed train, back to the harbour point. i walk the trail, alone. through trees. through ancient stones. to the hill.
then i am back at the trees. in a group of people. some are friends, some are strangers. and somehow, i get separated from the friends while walking the trail. even in the train, i am not with them. instead i get to sit with a stranger. and first feel uncomfortable with the situation. but then, i have a seat with a view, and i don’t want to give this up. so i stay. and somehow the stranger and i begin to talk. and we realize, we aren’t really strangers. it’s only that we live in separate worlds. and probably this will be the only time of our lives that our paths cross.

kissing you...

i think this is what drowning might feel like, except
your lungs probably burn more when you drown.

the same delicate transaction
between
gravity and weightlessness,
between helplessness and hope.
.

saffron robes

saffron robes
remind the wearer
to show others
the way
.

Sunset at Tiffany's

Yesterday, after a long long time, I was at home. The whole day. Such a difference it made. To read Breakfast at Tiffany's by Capote. A lovely little story along with a few of Capote's other short stories. Then by chance, I went up to the terrace, climbed another spiral staircase to the topmost part of the house. Just sat down there. Spoke for a while on the phone. And then... was rewarded by one of the most beautiful sights I have seen in a long long while.

The clouds that had hung low and gloomy all over the city the past few weeks had lifted. The sun was shining... and I could only watch in awe as the last rays of the sun dipped over the horizon, casting a rainbow spectacle even as the moon rose on my left at the same time. It was beyond words. Beyond beauty. I had my mobile there and I remembered to take a photo of the three rays just in time. They shine here now, carrying with them the healing rays of the Universe. To correct a step. To smile their way. To lend some hope. That is really not bad at all. Just not bad at all.

Finding a moment

An odd six months of my life, returning to the glassy world of downtown business and day jobs (temporarily), a world of layoffs and political intrigue (am I next?), of cash flow and cash spent (cranberry-colored suede shoes). A place where I have done good work and made new friends and rediscovered a side of myself I'd forgotten, backpacking and canvassing and working at home.

Last week I finally got dental insurance. My dentist took 20 x-rays; his assistant said she'd never seen anyone so happy to come in for x-rays.

In six months, hardly a moment to read a book or write an essay or book a trip to somewhere. Next week my first real excursion, to Las Vegas and then to the canyons of Zion National Park. I imagine only then will I be able to find perspective and see beyond the day to day...

reasons paintings have no ears

"I have to admit,
when going to a museum,
I do prefer seeing real paintings,
but then I guess,
I shouldn't complain
as the ticket
was only 1 Euro,"
the lady in black and white said
and shuffled off to the next room
leaving me standing as silent
as the perplexed paintings

Earth Rain

Here, the day wakes up to the sound of the earthquake that hit North India and further on to Pakistan and Afghanistan. The strange thing is that I was actually on the phone with a friend who was in Delhi and who tells me at the same time, "There is an earthquake happening," and continues to talk on the phone as if he just said he is having breakfast. Finally better sense prevailed and he rushed out of the building. Yet, I read all these stories...of hurricanes, of tornados, of earthquakes and wonder what is happening. Surely can Nature be so unkind? Where is the logic in life anymore? Since when did death become so irrelevant? Just a matter of numbers?

As if in mockery, the rain pelted down in the evening. I was stranded in another place and could only watch the cascading sheets. I had to be elsewhere. Yet here I was, watching and waiting for this rain to stop. Somehow, the beauty of that message trickled through. I really don't need the rain to make me stop. It is just a matter of taking the little turns. Of realising that just because some things do not work out the way we want, doesn't mean they never worked. That rain break, of watching time through windows soothed a tired soul. Aren't these little turns always waiting for us? If so, why do we always forget that they exist?

luminous surface 3017

though torrential sun
pours pure illumination
that we perceive,

and clashing lamps
dispute the dark
to thus extend our day,

lightcraft complete requires
both radiance and recipient.
what shapes

of malleable brilliance
remain unseen, veiled
by our own timid sight?
.

digital still life

sorting the September files
into a box of bytes and bits

coming across this frame
of frail movement in stone

wondering if this red dot
really was a rose i never noticed
.