White hot sand and roaring waves
I am laying under the shade this hot summer
Lying still and hearing young shrieks
Wouldn't you know it, I am on the beach
A busy world knotted in chores
Lies outside, running at warp speed
Reputations made, investments lost
With markets and net worth keeping score
Which of these two worlds are real?
Turning the till to earn the meal
Or observing the receding tide
All the while from life, time continues to steal
I am on the beach, wouldn't you know it
Watching sand castles being built
Knowing fully well that it is a matter of time
For it to be only the beach again
14 comments:
good poem...... nice philosophy
subbu
Brilliant! I especially liked the 3rd para beginning with 'Which of these two worlds are real'. How many times we have pondered along those lines!
Very good. I liked the poem and the pictures!
The last 3 lines
"Watching sand castles being built
Knowing fully well that it is a matter of time
For it to be only the beach again"
reminded me of Kabir's couplet(Doha) "Maati Kahe"
Maati kahe kumhar se,
tu kya raunde moye
Ek din aisa aayega,
main raundoongi toye
Earth says to the potter
you think you knead me
One day soon you'll see
I'll knead you easily
Link below has more from Kabir and the blog has some more poets as well.
http://poems2remember.blogspot.com/2007/09/kabirs-couplets.html
You know what..?
I thought of writing
long back..!!
Remember what I said
few days back..?
I like it..
really like it. Simple, thought provoking.
nice ! deep ! koanese
The fleeting wings of time implicit in the last stanza of your beach poetry reminded me of a sadder, well-known poem we learnt in high-school years ago:
Move him into the sun—
Gently its touch awoke him once,
At home, whispering of fields unsown.
Always it awoke him, even in France,
Until this morning and this snow.
If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know.
Think how it wakes the seeds—
Woke, once, the clays of a cold star.
Are limbs so dear-achieved, are sides
Full-nerved,—still warm,—too hard to stir?
Was it for this the clay grew tall?
—O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earth's sleep at all?
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.
A Robin Redbreast in a Cage
Puts all Heaven in a Rage.
A dove house fill’d with doves and pigeons
Shudders Hell thro’ all its regions.
A Dog starv’d at his Master’s Gate
Predicts the ruin of the State.
A Horse misus’d upon the Road
Calls to Heaven for Human blood.
Each outcry of the hunted Hare
A fiber from the Brain does tear.
He who shall train the Horse to War
Shall never pass the Polar Bar.
The Beggar’s Dog and Widow’s Cat,
Feed them and thou wilt grow fat.
The Gnat that sings his Summer song
Poison gets from Slander’s tongue.
The poison of the Snake and Newt
Is the sweat of Envy’s Foot.
A truth that’s told with bad intent
Beats all the Lies you can invent.
It is right it should be so;
Man was made for Joy and Woe;
And when this we rightly know
Thro’ the World we safely go.
Every Night and every Morn
Some to Misery are Born.
Every Morn and every Night
Some are Born to sweet delight.
Some are Born to Endless Night.
So much is said in so few a word!
The last para is reminiscent of the Sisyphean absurdity!
Liked it! The fourth para neatly completes the question setup in the third! There is a layered perspective that goes beyond the depressed question of the individual on the cogency of the situation.
The beach will be beach again. The questions are of individuals or things that are transient on the beach, the answer is one!
I loved the poem. Have a blessed summer!
Enjoyed that fun little poem. I actually just returned from such vacationing times. Was in Europe for two weeks.
OMG! That's REALLY good!!
so eloquently said thanks for the poem a perfect way to wrap up this amazing vacation which by the way contained several elements of the poem.
This really struck a chord. The way you've captured these two different worlds - the peaceful beach scene with kids playing and waves crashing, versus our work life with its markets and metrics - it's something we all experience, isn't it?
That question you pose, "Which of these two worlds are real?" - it's such a good one. Made me think about how we all move between these spaces - making a living versus just being present. I noticed how you keep returning to the beach scene, which grounds the whole piece nicely.
And that ending with the sand castles works well. We know they'll wash away, but we build them anyway - rather like much of what we do in our professional lives. It's interesting to see this perspective, especially given your background in finance. The poem manages to be straightforward yet thoughtful at the same time.
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