Wake Up Call
A poem by Natasha Kurien
The lights, they blind you,
the sounds, they deafen you,
the voices, they drown you,
the pace of life outnumbers you.
Your values subdued
in the wave of commotion,
your inhibitions
defeated in the forgotten.
Your goals immersed
in the ticking of the clock
and suddenly it appears
like life is about just that.
Setting unreal expectations for yourself,
meeting them, sometimes falling short,
being crippled by the boredom,
that comes off finding the next one.
It’s about showing up,
going with the flow,
some days against it,
and some days ahead.
At the end of the day,
when you lay your head
on your pillow,
what do you feel?
Does merely getting by tire you?
When you don’t know
where the tide is taking you,
how do you find meaning?
It’s strange to find a reason,
to do what you do,
to continuously,
move with the ebb and flow.
The minutes piled up,
so did the hours and the days,
the months, the weeks —
to leave us with now.
Right now,
what do you feel?
What does life
mean to you?
Do you feel like
the pace of your life
is anchored by your
core thoughts and principles?
Do you think that
there is coherence
between the current life you lead
and the goals you once made for yourself?
Where do you think
life is taking you
what do you think
it’s trying to prove?
Where are we heading in this journey
of twists and turns —
Of being at the mercy of fate
but thinking we’re in control?
Look ahead and
there’s every imaginable red flag
yet when you get there,
there are many more.
Or look behind
where the folds
on the picture postcards
roll up each day?
When you’re done
taking care of everyone around you
do you care enough
to ask yourself how you feel?
To ask yourself
if everything is okay
if the pace of life
is treating you alright?
Do you look at your wonderful face every morning
and tell yourself that
you are beyond anything
anyone can possibly say or think about you?
Do you look at your beautiful body
that’s carried you around all these years
through the rollercoaster rides —
the heart that’s guided you?
The mind that has
tried to protect
and safeguard you
against the impulses of the heart.
The past
the present
the future
that’s all there is, isn’t it?
In all this showing up
chasing hopes and dreams
we’re supposed to be humane, be at peace
find hope in a world that’s falling apart.
In a world where corruption morphs its name
in political leaders
with half fulfilled promises
of a better world.
In all this, we’re supposed to progress
to chase goals
to grow
to get better at our jobs.
To get better at what we know
but at the very core
we need to learn
how to live.
Not the
mechanical lives
we’ve been shown
but one that truly satisfies.
In this chase
to make ends meet
and advance at the same time
we’ve turned savage, cutthroat.
Needy, falling straight into the arms
of anyone who promises to stay
but leaves instead
with scars that take years to heal.
We are to add this to the list
we have to achieve
heal our scars,
ease our pain, be a person.
But the real battle
is to piece every broken bit
one by one till
we’re whole again.
Right from the tips of our toes
to our mangled hearts
we have to mend ourselves first,
before anything else.
The world can wait,
but when we arrive,
we must be adequate,
to face the world as we are.
To not let it break us.
But to trust that —
We. Are. More. Than. Enough.
