Jun 12, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry, The Daily Post
To Stand and to See
©June 12th, 2016
by Vijaya Sundaram
I stand in the midst of thought
And, my mind ripening, I marvel
At fields of golden grain before me.
Where the sun pours down generous light.
My eyes and mind rejoice at sudden
Dawning comprehension, a glimpse
Of what it means to live, and to grow,
Where life shouts out in defiance of death.
And death is but a step away, here, where
I stand among the flowers in the valley below
And forget everything in fields of poppies
And meadows where asphodel and narcissus bloom.
Planting myself firmly in the midst of all
That is, was, and will be, I do not flinch
When things are born, ripen, decay, die –
Knowledge blooms in sun, and in darkness.
I stand among all this, and know it as truth.
____________________________________________________________
Understanding
I found out to my delight that the word “understand” has its roots in Sanskrit, at least the “under” part. See the Online Etymology Dictionary, from which I quote the excerpt below:
Old English understandan “comprehend, grasp the idea of,” probably literally “stand in the midst of,” from under + standan “to stand” (see stand (v.)). If this is the meaning, the under is not the usual word meaning “beneath,” but from Old English under, from PIE *nter- “between, among” (source also of Sanskrit antar “among, between,” Latin inter “between, among,” Greek entera “intestines;” see inter-).
Tags: #DailyPrompt, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #TheDailyPost, #Understanding
Apr 30, 2013 Teaching and Learning
A Final Judgement
©By Vijaya Sundaram
April 30th, 2013
It’s always about the hierarchy —
Who’s above whom, and who’s below
And who’s stacked at the top
And who’s down at the bottom.
But who am I to approve or not,
If I am not, myself, perfect?
So, if I judge them or evaluate them,
Should they not judge and evaluate me?
And won’t the judging stand in our way?
And is not all this an artifice, a construct,
A means to justify ourselves to each other?
A means to prove our worth and our realness?
And perception of power and position
And the dull echo of a lack of power
Give a false sense of place
To the judge and the judged —
One seated above, the other
Waiting, humbly at the lower step.
One looking down, kindly or not,
And the other looking up, grateful but resentful.
At other times, it’s about the
Mutual acceptance of a smiling,
Shared understanding, where
One bows to the other, and asks
For judgement, and sometimes,
For praise, and sometimes,
For forgiveness, the one submitting
To the will of the other, willingly.
And would the judgement
Stop us from seeing the true face
Of our humanity, and our
Shared fates? Could we judge
Without judgement, without harshness?
Could we judge with love and kindness?
Would that be judgement? Could we judge,
And let go of our judgement?
We are not God, except that we are.
And the only being who could
Ever judge, and from whom we
Could hope for understanding, is
Our downcast, sorry selves, not a figment.
It is we who hold in our hands the key to
That final forgiveness and that
Final Judgement.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The End ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tags: #Forgiveness, #NaPoWriMo, #Original Poetry, #Understanding, Final Judgement, Hierarchy, Lack of Power, Mutual acceptance, Power