The Perception Challenge

Looking through a pair of glass,

pulling out a bluish green atlas,

I see the city of 'Aurora Borealis',

it's filled with blossom and bliss.

I'd be gazing at the green sky there,

settling down in the middle of nowhere.

Mountains, glaciers and coastal fjords,

I'd seek the history of Scandavian boards.

9th century Viking ships at the ports,

and wooden houses of all the sorts,

how beautiful would it seem to freeze

in that moment of comfort and ease.

Oh Norway, embrace me into the night,

hold me up into your northern lights,

don't let me get away from your sight,

'cause it's one of the best delights.

​

Jaydev Patel

Flow, the two rivers,
Now parallel, now crossing,
often overlapping,
one of divine water,
the other of souls'n'bodies
And I, within the second,
dipping my feet in the first,
I think Time got jealous,
as ancient sumptuous palaces
and steel skyscrapers
both dance before my eyes:
or is it the fight of two armies,
this, not enough recalled,
and that, too much forgetting?
I could ask the tiger,
roaring from the taiga,
nostalgic about the days
when its realm was wider,
before it was gnawed
by frantic hives of bricks,
hosting its domestic cousins,
gladly trading size and strength
for a place on a couch,
which men so better face
Oh, the big sky, here!
It takes such shades,
like nowhere else!
Is the sunlight jealous
of the colours
the charming women, here,
adorn themselves with?
My nostrils are sieged
by endless smells,
of people and perfumes,
beasts and spices,
flowers, traffic and sweat,
boldly fill the dense air,
as if the ground was
an impatient lover
courting the sky above
Oh, my ears tickle
and my brain gets lost,
following turban spires
of countless calls
and lines and verses,
as if the world came here
to say the same old things,
after all:
and I pray Bhagwan,
to lead my steps and yours
And I look at this river
of shades of melanin,
and I study the faces...
Hey! You! Is this you?
And you! And you, too!
Oh, here we are!
We meet, at last!
And we all learn how
those words and clicks
translate to matter.
around an inviting tray
Of long desired golgappa.

​

Daniele Bergamini

Calling my Name

I have been there many times and none at all.

*

In fragments it looks like this place. But only because it is also a desert. I can't show you a picture, because I haven't been there yet. Only in my dreams. *

You will find some red mountains joining the sand. They are not that huge and steep like the Swiss Alps, with its perfectly triangle shaped summits. Maybe, mine are also gigantic and magnificent, but more round. Soft and smooth they roll over the landscape. You can easily climb over one bolder to another to reach the top of the world. *

A Bedouin with a large blue turban and dark trusting eyes are expecting you at a camp fire. He is your guide. There is a camel lying next to him in the sand. Relaxed. *

You are part of something larger. It is your caravan who brings you to new adventures. Of course, only if you like to be part of it. If not, you are either welcome to sit down and drink a tea and listen to the old stories and music they catch up at one place and bring it to another.

*

But why I am so sure, that this place excists? Because a friend of mine has told me about it many times. It is in the Sinai mountains of Egypt. It matches with my dreams.

*

It is where history met and collide many times. Where the rules of our society where formed, in order to live peacefully together. Many visions were created there. Most of them now stuck in a book on a dusty desk.

*

This place whispers my name. I long to go there, for many years. When will I be ready? It was long time not save to go there. The situation in this region gets better. And you still hear stories, better not to go. When is this place ready for me?

*

Is it save in Europe anyway? And sometimes I think it is more dangerous to walk on a sidewalk, while a fast bike crosses your way and misses you only by hair's breadth. 

What am I waiting for? *

The question which holds me back at the moment: Do I need to do something else first? Is it part of a longer journey? 

Or is my other dream just deflection me from my real dream. My destiny? Is it part of it or just a delay? *

Sometimes I hope, the longer I wait, the calling and the longing will stop. But it doesn't. It finds its way through.

​

Miriam

A step ahead, a step after
As i walk along,
Until i find myself in a city 
I will come to know before long. 
My steps quicken, my heart-beats rise, 
I'm in a world of high appraise, 
As tired i am, my shoulders don't droop, 
The euphoria of exploring a new city, i hope? 
My eyes revel in joy, 
As i gather myself to enjoy, 
A home far away from mine, 
Where along the streets, snow aligns. 
I see the city's gait;
All hurried and rushed, 
Just as a gentle breeze, 
Cold,-arrives and has my hair brushed. 
And it is then, i feel
Even in that cold,
A warmth through myself
Of finally feeling old
Enough, to travel, and, Hence re-discover the self.

​

Ramya J Iyer