Carried Away
A poem by Natasha Kurien
Carried away by a thought —
like a leaf in the wind,
giving in to its whispers,
swaying to its pace,
never quite settling,
but constantly in transition.
Settling once the tides decline,
sometimes up above,
on a high reaching branch,
falling to the earth only when
the force of gravity outmatches
the pace of the wind.
The chaos that ensues when
the mind is cluttered
with thought, is much
like the leaf dilly-dallying
to the whims of the wind
reconciling once a grounding point is reached.
A thought that’s free of fear,
free of the dread,
filled with the fervid intensity,
to embrace all that fate has to offer
with every ounce of courage you can muster,
is to live life the way it’s supposed to be.
Not on the sidelines,
watching opportunity slip
for fear of
being outmatched,
outnumbered, or whatever
your mind is telling you.
It’s to believe your crazy, optimistic,
illogical, inner voice
that’s been saying the same thing,
over and over again,
attempting to manifest itself
in ways that you’d understand.
But it only becomes clear,
when the clutter is gone,
when a ray of sunshine hits your face
in exactly the right angle,
when that splash of water soothes the right spot,
when you close your eyes and just give in.
When you drop the resistance,
and open your eyes,
and open your heart to,
the obvious,
to the truth,
to the reality that you’re so afraid of.
You are that leaf,
the world - the wind,
gravity - your voice,
let it ground you,
to the safest,
kindest space within.
To the homeliest place
you’ve ever known,
to the warmest,
most lovely place
you’ve ever
been to.
Coexist with that voice,
coexist with your thoughts,
let them slowly settle to the ground,
before you
carefully pick each one up,
to examine.
Gently wiping it away
if it serves you no purpose
holding, harnessing, and honing it,
if you think that it,
in the slightest way
will make you believe again.
If it, in the slightest way restores your faith,
if it, in the slightest way makes you hope,
if it, in the slightest way shows you a way,
to make you feel alive again,
to make you feel whole again,
to make you feel lighter and brighter.
May you shine in every way
that you can imagine,
may you entertain every thought
that brings you the tiniest ray of hope,
may you learn to listen again if you’ve forgotten,
may you learn to slow down and hold on.
May you find that voice,
in the strongest of all winds,
may you listen to it,
no matter how loud the winds are,
may you let your gravity ground you so strong —
that no wind can carry you away.
