A Fragment

The lake was quiet

A fertile stillness permeated the area

Some fluffy cygnets nestled into a swan

A breeze rustled the tree canopies, towering all around

A few ducks quacked and chased each other, playfully gliding through the water

Someone was practicing a saxophone in the distance, disembodied sounds, barely audible, faintly echoing across the universe

A centre of awareness and receptivity, I bathed in my surroundings

I strangely felt on the precipice of something, I don’t know what

Present, aligned, connected

In the bewildering whirlwind of life, this was a precious moment of peace and tranquillity

A Fragment

I traced the path lightly, as my feet kissed the Earth

A verdant, green-carpeted valley framed the river

The air was warm, balmy, fragrant

Life burgeoned and blossomed all around, in an array of forms

The whole world was ripe and teeming with joy

I trod past various birds tweeting and chirping to each other, their conversations seemed most interesting

Iridescent, neon dragonflies hovered delicately by the riverbanks

Emerald green leaves were perfused with golden sunshine

Bushes and trees were overgrown and overflowing

The river serenely rippled, nourishing the fertile area

I felt as a child again, the whole world was my playground

On this sunny day the cosmos sang to me the most beautiful song

I was overcome by Love

A Fragment

Consumed by thought, incessant thought

One afternoon I left the confines of my all-too-familiar room

Though tired in body, I cycled to the woods

When I arrived the turbulent ripples slowed

The waters of my mind began to settle

The cool afternoon breeze brushed away my frustration

There was a large yew tree surrounded by a fence, a plaque informed me it was 400 years old

I wondered to myself what things this tree had witnessed 

I thought of all the people who, hundreds of years ago, had also walked by this tree

I did not feel separate from them

This evening, the woods embodied tranquility

The canopies rustled above, swaying gently

Nature is medicine

Unlike my straight-edged room, closed off from the world, nature is wiggly

With its gnarled trees and twisted twigs

Home

Broken, lost, yearning 

We are thrown, limp and half-starved, on distant islands, an eternity from home 

Surrounded by an infinite, barren ocean, no one is coming to rescue us 

Our bodies, minds, souls are hungry, sick, weak 

Needing, longing, desperately we move through life

Our restlessness, ambitions and discontents are all shadows of one longing

We are impelled forward, but what impels us? 

We think, but who is the thinker? 

We act, but who is the actor? 

Sometimes we numb ourselves to ease the pain, filling every silence

Otherwise, it is too much to bear

But the restlessness never truly goes, the yearning never truly stops

Each one of us is Odysseus, seeking our return home

We move through life with forces seemingly bent against us

Do we give up? Retreat? Do we let these forces keep us down?

Or do we continue? Do we rise? Do we learn from our setbacks and grow? Do we plant our feet on the ground, send our roots into the earth, and reach for the skies?

The journey home is long, arduous - full of emotion, tragedy and laughter

Many of us never reach this place, many of us fail to realise that we never really left this place

But we all have the potential

Sometimes we need guidance and love, sometimes we need to surrender

We never left, we never left