All around search deep enough
To spot:
A near-perfect-silence.
A near-perfect-stillness.
Breathe, first shallowly.
Then, more deeply.
Float on the old white cloud of calmness.
Become calm.
Remain calm.
Why a thought of anything else?
Why a thought of anything else!

Why a thought of anything else?
Another time!
A backward glance has entered the mind:
To saddle it on a fiery horse.
The fiery horse is fear, remorse, anger -
Bursting the white cloud.
The white cloud is an ashen mound -
Making strange sounds.
The near-perfect-stillness is shattered.
The near-perfect-silence is destroyed.
What do you do?

You start all over again.
Breathe, first shallowly.
Then, more deeply.
To reach
The old white cloud of calmness

Mumbai
2013

Geeta Chhabra

From the book: Smash My Glass by Geeta Chhabra.