Endgame

These nights, I give myself time to play or listen to music before I go to bed. Today, I know I will wake up earlier and fresher because of it. There's something so therapeutic about leaving a day behind, to turn and focus on something you know simultaneously relaxes, strengthens and assures your mind. Especially while listening to music, focusing on just the beat initially keeps you right in the present. But the recesses of your brain then catch onto strains of harmony and melody that evoke lucid visions in your now clear brain. Visions of those you love, what you care for, all tinged with an emotion that's impossible to comprehend without the memories it is playing on. Now I realize my breath. Now I open my eyes. Now I breathe. I feel sweat gently turn inside my veins. Me and my body have just lived.

Drawn to the River

I read Shusako Endo's "Deep River" - a story about a group of Japanese tourists visiting India, especially Varanasi. The book combines two of my favorite cultures and I had to say something about it :)

Sunrise touches wrinkled foreheads,
as ashes rain down in commemoration,
over the deep river, dust to water,
cast from a young one's hands.

Teachers pray, and prayers teach
Chaos inspires peace here,
with reason, comes some resonance,
of no reason at all.

A single mother flowing, glowing,
taking all's cries and tears,
with her, surely she must,
shed some of her own.

A family sits, bound together,
by the belief that such a sight exists,
and will forever remain,
as the Ganges flows through their veins.