Passion…unbridled

“Like vanishing dew,
a passing apparition
or the sudden flash
of lightning — already gone —
thus should one regard one’s self.”
― Ikkyu

Cherry blossoms also symbolize the transience of life because of their beauty and quick death.

When I was young I thought

I was immortal, invincible,

My life with thrills was fraught

I was pretty indestructible..

As the sands of time shifted

The notion of transience raised its head

The veil of my ignorance slowly lifted

My prior convictions I had to shed

When the course of my life was altered

By fate, through manmade or natural disaster

Taken aback, I stumbled and faltered

Of my life, I no longer felt like the master

Learnt how fickle life could be

Snatched away in the blink of an eye

I realized my predestined mortality

And became aware, albeit with a sigh

Happiness was a transitory phase

Meant to enjoy while it did last

The years would pass in a blurry haze

Death might approach a little too fast.

I learnt to live in the moment present

Feel and savor everything it had

Since nothing in life is permanent

Living in the moment makes me glad.

Thoughts are the shadows of our feelings- always darker, simpler and emptier.

–Friedrich NietzscheIn wishful thinking I indulge

Dreaming of what I can’t divulge

Thoughts that boundaries explore

Of societal norms, pushing for more

Skirting scandalous domain

With power to inflict pain

Thoughts that when transformed

Into words can drop some bombs

Thoughts that are best confined

To remote corners of my mind

How would things be, I wonder

If all our thoughts buried deep under

Could find tangible expression

How it would cause a sensation

The power of the mind unleashed

Could threaten our lives’ fabric indeed

The filters that are set by us

Are meant as protection from chaos

Chaos that the world would fall in

If each of us decided to listen

To the clamor of thoughts that reside

In the recesses where our demons hide

We battle our minds, we agonize

Voicing unfiltered thoughts is unwise

Dreams pitch in with their solutions

When conscious thought has no resolution

When we wake up, rationality returns

Banishing dark thoughts to hidden demons.

When you finally let go of the past, something better comes along. I try my best not to cling

To ghosts buried in the past

Memories of bygone days often bring

Resentment that spirals down quite fast

Spinning out of control all at once

Settling in my mind, on the tip of my tongue

Accusations, insults in abundance

All of a sudden, at you are flung.

Then starts the digging by you and me

Together, we unearth misgivings in piles

Blind to what each other can see

We fight endlessly, words stretching for miles.

***

Why do we flog the horse that is dead

History is what happened yesterday

Details forgotten, we should move ahead

With our old errors to guide future ways.

Living in the future is no better solution

So let us live in the present instead

Let go of the past of our volition

Honor the essence, but bury the dead.

Raging fires within

Incinerating, burning a hole

Rising above the din

Of the wailing of my soul

Carnage widespread

Of the depths of my mind

Unfettered, unchecked

Fueled by a rage blind..

Such was my anger

Fed on envy, greed, pride

A thunderous monster

Swallowing me with jaws wide.

***

The fire died

By itself consumed

As my soul cried

Charred, but exhumed

A faint, positive voice

Rose from within

Giving me a choice

Of resurrecting

Whatever remained

Of my destroyed being

Fate had ordained

Massive rebuilding.

Anger spent, pride gone,

Greed, envy disappeared

As I sat alone, forlorn

Hope in its glory appeared.

Under its calming influence

My soul filled with love to the brim

Contentment and faith in confluence

Transformed my condition grim.

Evils of past now purged

With a steely resolve maintained

Into the future I lurched

Keeping my anger contained.