The virtue of patience

Our willingness to wait reveals the value we place on what we are waiting for…

-Charles Stanley

Mt. Washington summitAll her wishes, wants and desires

She wanted at once fulfilled..

The overflowing cup of her patience

Was always to the very brim filled.

She wanted instant gratification

Irrespective of the need

Her hands raised in supplication

She would pray fervently indeed.

As a five year old she had

Quite a precocious conviction

That what she wanted really bad

Would soon be in her possession.

*

So the years went flying by,

She blossomed into a lovely lass

Slowly she came to realize why

Her dreams had been made of glass.

First love tugging at her heart’s strings,

Arduous search for gainful employment,

Taught her patience was a virtuous thing,

Leading to eventual enjoyment.

*

The more you wait for things to come

The sweeter the fruits they bear

Patience always accompanies wisdom

So wait for what you hold dear!

Floral dreams

“I must have flowers, always, and always.”
― Claude Monet

In the depths of winter, I am always thinking about spring…my mind wants an overdose of everything floral.

Sharing the pictures of flowers I have been toasting my eyes with..

dahalia (2)longwood11 (2)blue flowerroses (2)orchid22

Sunday Stills: Night Shots

Linking to : Sunday Stills, the next challenge: Night Shots

bellagio1
                     Bellagio Fountains, Las Vegas, NV

DSC04197              Lincoln Center, New York City

DSC04226              Holiday Lights Along the Columbus Circle, New York City

Audacity

There was a time

When she would not dare

To speak up her mind

She would not share

Ideas, that in their singularity

Could have stirred up a storm

She would not have found solidarity

In going against the norm.

                **

She saw the world around her

Changing at a reckless pace

She remained a silent spectator

In a rapidly declining phase.

Until one day she took stock

Of all that her loved ones had lost

The revelation came as a shock

This is what her passivity had cost..

If only she had interjected

If only she had been brave

May be her ideas would be accepted

May be something she could save.

                 **

Not all was lost, she realized

She still had novel solutions

She could experiment, she surmised

Not thinking of retribution.

With newly found audacity

In waters new she took the plunge

With steely resolve and tenacity

Self-doubt she did expunge. 

And then, to her pleasant surprise

She gained so much more

Than what she expected from the prize

Prompting her to further explore

The limits of her recalcitrance.

She let her ideas take flight

And marched past every resistance:

She had finally learnt to fight! 

dare

Global warming

Global warming is not a conqueror to kneel before – but a challenge to rise to. A challenge we must rise to.

Joe Lieberman

The picture below is that of a glacier in Alaska-these glaciers are disappearing fast!

alaska3

The greatest story of exploitation

Has long been hidden under wraps

The pillage of our planet by mankind

Deserves to be discussed perhaps.

The planet Earth, our unique abode

That over millennia has sustained us

Is under threat from human greed

Its fragility suddenly in focus.

We’ve cut down trees, industrialized

And thus polluted our breathable air

Raising emissions of greenhouse gases

Causing a rent in the ozone layer.

Plagued by the sweltering heat in summer

We dismiss it as “global warming”

Forgetting that the rising temperatures

Carry with them an ominous warning.

And then, reeling under the polar vortex

Global warming is pushed into oblivion

Though the frigid temperatures are

Of global warming, a manifestation.

Remember every time you travel

To see an island or a glacier

Your children may never see them

Because they are likely to disappear.

May be all of us could lend

A helping hand for Mother Earth

And do our minute part

In preserving our home and hearth..

We sowed the seeds of global warming

Eventually the fruits we’ll bear

We have  to make an effort to save

The earth and its atmosphere.

Losing yourself in a book

“There is no mistaking a real book when one meets it. It is like falling in love.”
― Christopher Morley, PipefulsFullSizeRender (3)

A way to get infinite pleasure

Is reading a good book at your leisure

Soaking in every printed word

Transported to another world..

Letting the characters grow on you

Living their life vicariously, too.

In sync with the cadence of the plot,

In the writer’s web, you get caught..

Letting your imagination soar

As new ideas open their doors

The whole slew of human emotions

Love, jealousy, flattery, devotion

Anger, despair, happiness, 

Each one you may witness.

With each new book you embark

On a virtual adventure in the dark

Not knowing what is in store

An engrossing read or a colossal bore.

When you get to a good book you may find

“Nirvana” for the soul and mind

Reading a good book is my meditation

It leaves me with a sense of elation. 

P.S. The image above is a photograph of the mural in my local library.

Best form of expression

lake 2 alaska

Poetry is the one place where people can speak their original human mind. It is the outlet for people to say in public what is known in private. 

Allen Ginsberg

I started this blog to share my views on pretty much anything and everything that I like. While it was easy enough to write about the tangible things in everyday prose (such as my favorite books etc.), I was finding it difficult to express myself when it came to abstract ideas.

So I rekindled my passion for poetry. I used to dabble in poetry as a young adult, before I realized that few people read poems. Now, however, it is serving my purpose, that is, allowing me to write about rather sensitive and abstract issues. I am aware fewer followers would read these poems, but for me, the ability to express everything I feel is crucial since that is the reason for the existence of my blog.

Reflecting on this, I realized that it is actually easier to express sensitive topics in verse. It may be the nature of poetry itself where verses have short lines, often incomplete by prose standards, that allow one to include some key words while leaving the rest to be pieced together by the reader. This way, abstraction becomes easier than in prose. A lot of controversial early literature was written in verse.

Shakespeare wrote his plays in verse. His plays were enacted on a threadbare stage where minimal props were available, and conjuring up imagery depended upon the words spoken by his characters. Thus verse helped stimulate imagination in order to enjoy the play. Another interesting thing is that the less educated pleibian had lines that did not rhyme, while the elite group always spoke in perfectly rhyming verse.

The performing arts have their own ways of dealing with sensitive issues. One of them is puppetry, mime being another one. Use of puppets takes enactment of difficult or embarrassing issues out of the picture, and is therefore widespread in societies that are less open. Similarly, the use of masks allows actors to perform without stepping out of their comfort zones.

As the world hotly debates freedom of expression, I, despite being the biggest proponent of free speech, am fascinated how different forms of expression can achieve different outcomes…

Fly high, above mediocrity

kitesSquare pegs in round holes

Trying to fit in preformed molds

Bowing to all societal pressures

Forgetting all individual measures..

Slaughtering all creative drive

Conforming to every rule, they strive

Internalizing all frustration

Simmering inside like ammunition

Living a life of discontentment

Harboring subtle resentment

Through their lives they trudge

Eventually unable to budge

From the mold in which they were cast

Oblivious to their unique ideas of the past

To promote mediocrity, they are inclined

Just as they were to mediocrity destined.

********* 

Is this how we want to raise

Our children in this rat race?

Destroying their intellect

By snatching their power to select.

Let them find their special place

Outside the boundaries we have raised

Take the road less traveled by,

Never forget to question why.

Never be afraid to express their thought

This, I think needs to be taught.

To rise above the tyranny

Of insipid mediocrity.

Break-up and make-up

separation_3

Unmet desire

Broken expectations

Burning like a fire

Raging sensations

Promises, scattered

Vows all lost

Animosity unfettered.

Silence, like frost

Hanging in the air

Threatening to explode

And lay bruised hearts bare

On a lonely road.

The road that they had

Once traveled together

The passion that they had

Once shared with each other

Now invisible in a cloud

Of doubt and suspicion

Cloaked in a shroud

Of hatred and revulsion.

They parted their ways

Certainly, not amicably;

But in the following days

Quite inexplicably

The cloud suddenly lifted

Resentment was gone

As each of them sifted

Through their emotions alone…

A deep yearning returned

The longing was intense,

The passion they had spurned

Made a stealthy entrance…

Their love was deeper

Than they had realized

It had to be nurtured together

It deserved to be prized.

(Image link: www.edvard-munch.com/Paintings/love/separation_3.jpg)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Serenity

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Serenity.”

“Dip your serenity in serendipity and let the surprise be your prize”. – AlaGraPHY

Serenity to me conjures up images of candles, peaceful birds and animals, and tranquil waters.

Candle Arrangement at Philadelphia Flower Showvieques serenityTranquil sea at Vieques, Puerto Ricoserenity5Crane in deep thoughtsea cave2Rock formation in a sea cave in Bermuda giving the appearance of Buddha

Exciting moments in daily life…

DSC03916 (2)1. The plane taking off

No matter how much or how frequently I travel, the moment when a plane first becomes airborne is still as exciting as it was on the first flight that I can remember. It makes up for flight delays, rude stewards/ stewardesses and unappetizing flight food.

2. Checking out new books from the library

I cannot wait to start reading …I get really excited about the prospect of reading something new (even if I don’t get around to reading them until much later)

3. Reaching my workplace a few minutes early and enjoying my eye-opener coffee 

This does not happen most of the time, usually I am exactly on time and rushing to see my patients- with coffee on the go…

4. Waking up at 5:30 am on a day off, only to realize it is a holiday..

Oh, the feeling when I can behind the covers again!

5. Grabbing a great bargain..

Ok, so this one is quite cliched for a woman, but it is true for me, as for many others…It is a wonderful feeling to lap up a well-fitting dress that garners compliments for an impossible price!

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Wood

This photograph is from Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco, CA. FullSizeRender