Celestial Ballad

Photo by Vicentiu Solomon

An unlikely friendship, theirs;

The Sun’s and the Moon’s.

It was the talk of the universe,

This strange celestial bond.

When stars wondered why

The Sun chose to light up

The  Moon, unlit by herself.

The Earth wondered why

The Moon glowed brighter

In response to the Sun.

 

Was it an unequal bond,

The Moon wondered sometimes.

For the Sun was always constant,

His light never subject to time

Whereas the Moon changed in cycles,

Now waning, now growing.

“Allow me to light you”, said Sun,

“At all the times”.

“I’m afraid of favoring light”, said she,

“The dark finds its way”.

 

And so it did when once,

The Moon in her earthly duties,

Allowed distance so long between

That Earth came in the way,

And obscured all Moon’s light.

And when she came at last

Leaving the Earth right behind,

Moon cast a shadow so big,

The fiery radiance dimmed

And eclipsed, this time, the Sun.

 

The cycle swept her again,

And Moon started waning.

At last she was down to nothing,

No light of her own to guide her;

The Sun, a distant friend.

Would Sun now keep her light-less,

And shower his rays on others?

Would darkness be all she had,

Her only friend in regret,

For causing mayhem of eclipses?

 

She willed herself to burn

Like other stars, Sun’s equals.

She willed herself  to cast light

And perhaps a higher power heard her,

For she saw her being illuminate.

Surprised, she found Sun’s rays reaching her.

Far though they may be,

They were enough to give her strength.

And Moon set about, now growing,

To find Sun across the caliginous sky.

 

Patience

Photo by Danka Peter

I waited while you looked around

Trying to find a place for yourself

In the crowd surrounding us.

I waited while you held on to beliefs

That were untrue and unfair.

I waited while you grasped about

Trying to make sense of what I am.

It is not easy, I give you that,

To make sense of a person.

And so, I waited patiently for you.

 

You walked on ropes,

Putting one foot demurely after the other,

Tracing back to your comfort, once, twice.

I waited, as you finally let go

Of the hold of old notions

And walked in air trying to balance it all.

You were very brave

To leave what was your truth

In order to find what was mine.

Hence, I waited patiently for you.

 

You rushed the last few steps

And fell into my arms

As a child would fall while learning to walk.

I waited very patiently

While you gathered your jumbled emotions.

Confusedly, you looked at one emotion

Trying to understand it.

It is not easy, I give you that,

To make sense of one’s emotions.

And thus, I waited patiently for you.

 

You have now, perhaps, made up your mind.

You have now formed an opinion of me.

But you still look around for words.

I’m still waiting patiently for you

For it is not easy to form bonds.

It is not easy to give a part of oneself to another.

It is not easy, I give you that,

To leap with faith into unknown.

I’ll wait patiently for you to close your eyes

For leaps of faith are best made when blind.

 

But while your eyes are open

See, that I have made a leap of my own

For it to come to this.

While your eyes are open

See the smile on my face,

See the trust in my eyes.

It is not easy, I give you that,

To see the gift that my leap has given me.

I’ll wait patiently for you to see

What cannot be, with eyes open, seen.