A portal beckons
Adventurous spirit calls
Fears forbid next step
Yet we drop down to explore
Will we return to share?
***
The secrets lay bare
Harrowing, endless steps loom
Fiery eyes threaten
Entrenched within crevices
Shady shackles pull us tighter.
***
Thanks to Sue Vincent for an inspiring Thursday #writephoto prompt Deeper
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I was drawn in by the analogy – ‘Life is like a bowl of cherries.’ It led me into various alleys even before I opened the book. I love short stories and Sally’s stories regale you with various experiences that are woven into the inescapable web of life. The book begins with ‘The Weekly Shopping’ – the most appropriate, humorous yet grim comment on how technology has crept into our lives. It would make you wonder: can we escape such a trap?
Cronin’s Crisp style of writing, her adroit crafting of characters and her inspirational tone gleams through out the book. Kindness of Elsie would melt your heart when you read ‘The Scratch Card’ and ‘The Date’ would make you dance despite your age. Jennifer’s positivity and planning is superb while The Nanny took my heart away! It is hard to pick up a favorite story, as all of them tingle some emotional cord. A perfect combination of sour and sweet, I savored this “bowl of cherries,” which has a sprinkle of some lovely poetry. Highly recommended.
***
Finding a Balance by Lauren Scott captures myriad emotions that beseech us to accept whatever life offers and find a balance in tears and happiness. A combination of deep love and yearning, the poems in this collection exude realism, speak of sadness but also offer soothing thoughts. Scott knows that our only choice is to move forward. While we seek answers to our questions, comfort can be found in prayers and hope.
The poems are written in a simple and straight-forward style and are easy to understand. There is a craving to rewrite some unpleasant chapters of life, to open new doors, to brush aside dejections and embrace light. My favorite poem is ‘The Box,’ as “The walls stood bare waiting for memories to dress” evoke memories we cherish. Lovely!
Thank you.
Balroop Singh.
I stumbled upon this write-up in my archives.
This word: “Enlightenment” has always intimidated me…it has given me visions of rising up into a different world, a sphere beyond my reach and therefore I have been trying to understand it for many years now.
Buddhist interpretation of the word… “the awakening to ultimate truth by which man is freed from the endless cycle of personal reincarnations to which all men are otherwise subject” is quite overwhelming.
Then I read about self-awakening: the truth that lies within us, the emotions that guide us toward our goals, that define the purpose of our life. And I arrived at some conclusions.
Enlightenment is not just spiritual, not just a state of transcendent divine experience, which aims at liberation from self, craving, suffering and rebirth. It is the ability to comprehend ourselves, it is the power to peer into our hearts and minds and reach that state of spiritual bliss, which may or may not lead us to salvation. Within us lies a light, a light of thoughts, a light of sanity, of ethereal happiness the light that liberates, which may become divine at some point of time, if we make an effort.
Enlightenment is self-realization…knowing your true self, which may be different from the self you have been portraying to the world.
“Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment” –Laozi.
How much you know about yourself? It takes us almost whole of our life to know what lies in our heart and mind; as it keeps on changing.
There are stages when we don’t know what we want. If we are smart enough to figure out, one fine day we realize that our passion is not what we have been pursuing. What we like as teenagers, we may not feel comfortable with, as we grow up.
Our taste for food, our aesthetic sense, our likes and dislikes, our friends, our perspective on life changes and we move beyond the world of appearances. We feel enlightened when our intuition starts guiding us, when we can take mature decisions, when we take pride in our achievements.
So enlightenment begins with plunging into our hearts, analyzing our thoughts and reflecting on the kind of life we have been leading.
Slowly we realize we need another kind of enlightenment: Enlightenment is to know and understand people around us.
How little we know about people around us! This culture of adopting a non-interfering attitude makes us strangers to each other, getting immersed in the sea of our own plans and pains.
Is spiritual enlightenment of any use in such a scenario? Aren’t we too selfish to crave for it?
Can we really attain it if we are oblivious of the suffering around us?
To my mind, real enlightenment comes from helping mankind, from wiping out abuse, discrimination, violence and exploitation around us. Enlightenment doesn’t make us a better person if we seek it just for us. It doesn’t erase our desires or may put an end to our own suffering. In fact it is the suffering that ennobles us.
“Enlightenment, joy and peace can never be given to you by another. The well is inside you.” – Thich Nhat Hanh.
Is enlightenment beyond the reach of common man? I don’t think so.
Would you like to be enlightened in the real sense of the word? I would love to hear from your side.
© Balroop Singh
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There was a spring in her gait, an elation that propelled her, an eagerness to fly, a yearning to have wings! She had been invited by the university to receive her gold medal. She was the topper of the year. She had waited for this day.
How could she forget this day? The day her bones felt lighter. The day she broke some!
Now what?
“Let’s cancel the program. Your foot needs attention.”
“I am good,” Laila hid her pain with a wide smile.
She ignored the swelling on her foot and got into the car. No broken bone could deter her determination to receive the honor in person.
Thirty years after the fall that had changed her gait, she says, “Sometimes the great bones of my life feel so heavy. Sometimes we take them for granted.”
“Do you regret your insouciance to injury?”
“Never.” Anything for dreams.
Louisa’s post inspired me to play with this prompt that I saw at Dare Boldly and followed the link: Prosery Prompt at D’Verse
The rules and prompt are:
“Write a story of 144 words or less (not including the title). The story must have a beginning and an end, and should not be poetry. Sounds easy enough right? Here’s the twist: You must use the poetry line I have given you within your story. You may alter the punctuation, but you must use the line in its entirety.”
Today, the chosen line is taken from Spring Azures from the book Wild Geese by Mary Oliver: “Sometimes the great bones of my life feel so heavy.”
Subject A36 by Teri Polen is a brilliant take on futuristic experiments that could allure many ambitious scientists who live in their self-created bubble of plucking everything from nature to manipulate it for the mighty and the rich. It is harrowing to imagine that “The Colony” kidnaps children to strip them of their coveted genes to create “perfect humans” for those who could pay the price!
This book engages you from page one and keeps you on the edge of your chair to read – what next? I couldn’t put it down and each time it revealed something new, I muttered wow! Written in a simple but eloquent style, Polen doesn’t waste a word in unnecessary descriptions; she focuses on the story and the outcome of action.
“Harvesting” – a shuddering term in connection with human beings but it lies at the center of this book, which gets darker as it proceeds.
Despite its theme, this book draws its strength from the emotional aspect of the story, which keeps you assured with the conviction that goodness can never be rooted out; there would always be kind people like Brynn, Noah and Paige. Love would remain the ultimate conquering force. It’s the love of Asher and Brynn, the friendship and benevolence of Asher, Noah and his team, the goodness of Garrett Solomon that shines in the abyss of darkness. I detest “The Colony” and there lies the success of Polen in crafting the perfect villains that live in it. I am eagerly looking forward to its sequel.
I’ve given it glowing 5 stars.
Thank you for reading.
If you like poetry, please check my latest book: Magical Whispers
Emotional Shadows 