Rishikesh to Delhi
World in flight
Through a bus window
At 80 kph
A flurry of images
In unknown tongues
Gone too quickly to understand
Collected in 1/680th time
A moment stopped for further consideration
On a later date, today
Bold art, like old propaganda…
To announce a new hydroelectric dam?
Drag the photo into translate
“Great Compressive Strength”
Ah, just an ad for concrete
I wonder again
At how unfathomable
The wide world could be
Before Google
…and yet, remains still
She burrows into his arms
Marvels again
At the sanctuary
Physical strength
In tranquil balance
With silky softness of spirit
Onshore breezes
Salt and sand flitter
Scents and sensations
Tingling
Everywhere
Especially her heart
As she nuzzles
Deeper
This embrace
Warm haven
From chill sea air
Some thought her broken
Even brittle
But all the brittle
Had broken away
In countless storms
What remained
Was hardened
Tenacious
She’d shed many facades
Until what was left
Was what she chose
To keep
She kept nothing
For perfunctory friendships
Or pettiness
Able to withstand any hardship
She chose carefully
What to stand for
And who
Content in gentleness
She suffered no one
Who drove hard upon her shores
If some thought
Walking away made her weak
She walked away
While they washed out to sea
Beaten
Vulnerable
I rose, vowing not to be struck again
Opting for the only defense remaining
Offense
As I grew more confident
In being vulnerable
I began to understand
The strength in vulnerability
I observe the violence
The hurt
The suffering
Detached
Feeling nothing
To feel would be
To shatter
So strong because
So fragile
Scars
Pockmarks
Weathering
Textures of
Distress
Hardship
Healing
The old iron
Rust
Pitted
Flaked
Like me
Still strong
Until I look again
And see the beauty
In the dilapidated
The strength
In the distressed
The resilience
In the rusted
Pix to Words 