Prayers

They told me that I would stay safe

From Hell’s blazing fires

If I walked straight on the path

And recited my prayers.

But huge distractions came my way

As sights and sounds and smells

And my thoughts no longer dwelt

On the burning fires of Hell.

I found friends who had been told

Of other Gods and skies

But they too chose to run away

From the sacred and the wise.

We drew close and held hands

To form a sheltered loop

And we moved to a secret tune

Like dancers in a troupe.

We felt our hearts with sunbeams fill

And heard music from a flute

We knew the tingle and the thrill

Of a prayer so strong , yet mute.

I no longer fear the fires of Hell

But this I do  believe

Heaven is  in the here and now

It’s there in the way we live.

 

I’m in love with myself

I hug myself tight tonight

In a warm embrace

Light on my shoulder, I place my hand

And waltz with measured grace.

I place my lips on my half closed eyes

And I hum softly in my ears

I smile as a smile lights up

Through the softly falling tears.

I’m in love with myself tonight

And I’m not probing why

Sometimes there are just no reasons

This bliss to myself deny.

I’ve all the love I need tonight

It surrounds the Summer air

And the raindrops freely fall

On my soul, laid bare.

P.S: Image taken from the Internet

 

The River

The river knows no restraint

It has to reach the sea.

From the mountains, when it flows

It revels in its spirit free.

Through jagged rocks and ravines deep

It wears its way along.

The forests smile when they hear

The lyrical lilt of its song.

Mud and silt and fallen leaves

Hold hands in friendly cheer

And race down in a rush and sweep

Without  a speck of fear.

In the plains where they reach

They slow down to catch their breath

From Nature’s lips , they have learnt

Lessons of life and death.

The stillness behind a lofty dam

Is neither right nor real

The river flows  through highs and lows

Till it finds its own level.

 

Freedom

Freedom comes when the past
Casts  no shadows of regret  or pain
Freedom finds me when the mind
Does not wallow in future loss or gain

Freedom thrives when my  hate and anger
Begins to wither and the heart grows calm
Freedom smiles when my passions
Ceases to simmer and gets embalmed .

Freedom holds my hand and hugs me
When I forgive myself and you
When I know that saint and sinner
Is in me , just as in you.

Freedom smiles when my neighbour’s joy
Fills my lungs and makes me sing
Freedom winks when my  prayers
Are feathers that give another, wings.

Freedom spreads its gossamer lightness
When I accept that I do not know
And I surrender without resistance
Like a leaf to  the river’s flow.

Freedom is,  when I’m aware
Of each moment in which I breathe
And all else is transient  except the love
That encompasses me like a sheath.

This is in response to the prompt on Free write Friday on the following link:

http://kellieelmore.com/2012/07/06/fwf-free-write-friday-freedom-write/

 

Empathy

I take your hand in mine
And seek to still your dread
You listen to my words
And know what I’ve not said.

I long to know your pain
And grieve when I do
You feel the dark clouds rise
When hope flows from me to you.

When calm descends at last
I sleep with an easy mind
Swathed in the silken sheets
Which our spirits bind.

This is in response to the word prompt on Kellie Elmore’s blog:
http://kellieelmore.com/2012/06/29/fwf-free-write-friday-word-prompt/