Reflections

There were the best moments.
And there were the worst.
Some dreams were denied.
Better ones were granted.
Some regrets remain.
Connecting the dots backwards,
they all line-up.
New questions have come up.
Old ones have been answered.
Best gifts are not physical anymore.
A word of comfort
more than made up for the day.
Revelations help the ego.
Once the "whys" are answered,
all that is left is awe.
Meandering it may seem,
uphill it may be,
next step may take eons,
summit is beautiful.
At the crossroads
I stand.
There are infinite ways to live.
The one I love
is the most elusive.

Jasmine

Jasmines are generally white.
She was not.
Multiple hues but no trace of white.
A beautiful girl who lived next door.
Intelligence filled her face.
A delight to watch.
One day, she laughed.
She laughed uncontrollably.
There was no joke.
But she continued.
May be she laughed because she saw,
with crystal clarity,
the absurdity of life.
It is funny sometimes.
But the ones who realize it,
are usually kept in asylums.
And all the confused ones,
get confined in their own minds,
in the free world outside.
She had just fallen over the edge.
She was just sixteen.
Yet she had reached the end of her life.
Who pushed her?
Her adopted parents?
Her true ones?
Her own mind?
Or the ghost?
Like my Mom innocently believes.
What happened to Jasmine?
Where did she go?
Another forgotten bright soul,
which couldn't bear its own lightness.
When she moved on to the brighter consciousness,
I was sitting nearby,
a ten year old,
believing that she will come back to be normal
and play chess with me.