That's life

birthed in love
tenderness raw
nourished with care
doted affection
innocent child
carefree adolescent
rebellious youth
cultivated adult
zoned out, and
ebbed
from the trials
unbidden
diminishing vigor
shrouded in obscurity
perilous health
flame extinguished

Remember

Unseen
Unfelt
from time out of mind
auld lang syne

a song here
a picture there
a word spoken
a memory in motion

tugs it out
from the wedges
incised deeply
over the years

cryptic
enigmatic
prejudicial
mysterial

faded from seasons
threadbare sublime
detached diffident strains
Yet. Somehow. It remains.

Remember?

ENOUGH.

years of muted suffering
had quelled her integrity, and
smothered her peace of mind
she dreaded losing out on relations
she feared the consequences
so she did what she thought
was the inevitable
and yielded to the circumstances
till an awakening call from within
in the quietness of the nights
questioned her of her being
and existing life
was this who she wanted to be
could she identify with her identity
it took her long
to come up with the answer
it was a decisive NO
she mustered every ounce
of the courage left within her
to stand-up and say
ENOUGH. I will tolerate no more.

... and, thus she blossomed from within

Finding Ground

she was tired of the unending trials
she could not take it anymore
she felt she was done
her eyes had no tears left
they had run dry
she yielded

Interlude

she needed to remind herself
that she was there for her
she did not have to give up
she could do it once more, and
all that was needed
was to take a deep breath, and
then the plunge

Interlude

while she found her wings
she also found her ground

Black O' White

a tabula rasa canvas
of pure white
heralding new beginnings
gets interspersed
with stark silhouettes
drawn in black
as we move on
with the rhythm of life

while white reflects fullness
black reflects emptiness
both exemplify the extremes
of the dispersion of colors
as they move through the prism
in tandem with the path
we traverse from life to death
tracing the contours of our breath

Gone too Soon!

your presence in our lives
was like a beacon of light
you were so full of life 

you were gone too soon, my dearest dad
you were gone too soon for us 

the sudden bend in the road
was exacting but it never stuck us
that soon we would be left mourning
the absence of the only man
who meant the world to us
(he still does)

we miss your sunshine smile
we yearn to hear you laugh
we keep searching for you
all the while
to complete what was left
incomplete between us

though it has been decades
since that fateful moment
that stripped you from our lives
we were never prepared for you to go
you were brutally taken away from us

you were gone too soon, my dearest dad
you were gone too soon for us

I give time, time.

the journey
from the carefree childhood
to the sprightly teen
was intriguing, while
the journey
from the bountiful youth
to the experienced adult
was daunting

 as I reflect on the past
I see a canvas painted
with the beautiful colors 
of the rainbows along with hues
interspersed with the shadows

as I look over the yonder
I see a horizon calling me
with it's arms outstretched
beckoning me to take the road
where the destination remains unknown

I stand rooted
caught in the there and now
undecided
unsure
whether I have
the wherewithal
to be once more
forged in fire, and
thawed in ice

I give time, time.