Pebbles Down Below

Down, down below, there

Slant glide your sight, would you?

For patterns there could be more intricate,

More complex,

More to gather from.

Your romanticised heart fears, I know,

Of disillusionment;

To dare move away

From smooth, convenient, luxurious views of satin skies

Into the rugged dirt and earthen realities.

Fear not! ‘tis okay!

The mighty heights would still be mighty and pretty

And the skies as gold-azure.

But when you begin to take in the whole: the low and the high alike;

The low and the high together;

Heart, mind, eyes and soul, those yours,

Might just begin capturing

Truer, heartier, healthier and more wholesome pictures!

For rugged, base, lowly rocks eventualise into smooth, dainty-stoic pebbles akin weathered wisdom.

And your pictures would now have floating clouds and grounded pebbles alike.

How not would your humble-pebbled picture now be prettier!

And the heights, I assure you, would shine, feel lovelier!

For now you’d appreciate heights better

After knowing

What it could be to be a pebble,

The strength of the weathered pebble,

And the beauty in humility.

Most of all,

Your picture would now be truer.

___

Dr. Keerti Saxena, Former Assistant Professor, NMIMS University, Mumbai.