Tag: beauty

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Cacophony of Civilization, Jama Masjid Mosque, Chandni Chowk (Old Delhi), New Delhi, India

Cacophony

I exit Jama Masjid’s exquisite tranquil beauty
Take a moment outside on the steps
To put on my shoes
Before stepping down
Into the cacophony of civilization

I was told, by many people
India would be a game-changer
Would alter my understanding of everything
In ways that could not be described
Only experienced

But I’d already spent 6 months
Bicycling across China
How much more
Could my understanding
Be altered?

More than I can describe
To those who have not shared
The experience of India
More than I can even describe
To myself

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Existential Parade, Chandni Chowk Market, New Delhi, India

Existential Parade

This parade of life
This hubbub of trade
Of needs
Of desires
This chaos of order
And community

And here am I
Amid the throng
In the moments between
Want and have
In the choices between
Necessity and pleasure

This is existential quandary
Alone in my thoughts
In a sea of solitary moments
Each a universe
Borne from a solitary mind
Known only to itself

These in parallel all
With the essentials
Of desire
And necessity
A flurry of universes
Sharing a single dimension

While in my universe
The bodies of a thousand strangers
Dance in cadence
With the flow of trade
A performance at once
Exquisitely mundane and beautiful