10 May, 2022

Pictures

Traveling through the vast expanses of life and experiences

she often asks me why I don’t take any pictures along the way

To remember the journeys I’ve been on and the days that I’ve seen

and to show to people of the adventures I recount stories of ever so often

 

I say how can I capture with a picture the smooth sail of a bird across the sky

with wings spread far apart and the tail making adjustments for direction

as it flaps momentarily to gain higher ground, returns to its remarkable glide

circling the blue heavens making friends with clouds and lights

 

How can I capture with a camera, the music of the sky when the sun sets

When waves crash on the shore and the birds chirp in salute to the setting sun

And the sky is filled with a spectrum of colors ever-changing ever-spectacular

And the music my heart makes, when I look at the Sun disappearing behind the horizon

 

How can pictures do justice with the sweet smell of freedom

as one runs across a meadow of recently blooms flowers

And of the smell of the first drops of rain touching the scorched earth

Of the scents a butterfly pursues hunting sweet nectar off flowers anew

 

How can pictures capture the span of wings, the expanse of clouds

the beating of a heart, the quenching of thirst

My words allow my stories, and my poems tell the tale of my experiences

Perhaps someone could capture it with a camera, perhaps better than my words

But I could not present my stories in any better way

And words will tell my tales of life and experiences

for me, for you, and for all those to come

 

Vishal Gupta

20th March, 2022