Pixelated Faces

A crowded world

Watched over by galaxies

Spinning away

Pushing the boundaries

Of space

Not content with

A comforting status quo

That many would like life to be

Viewed from afar

Multihued pixels

Paint the mountains, plains

Oceans, deserts and ice

From a moving

Watchtower in the sky

Trailed by white vapor

Drawings, on the stratosphere

Where the useful directions

Are up or down

Much like minds that float

In the world below

Gems and germs

Gems and germs

Bring scourges

To the doorstep of innocents

Breaking through sentinel eyes

Distracted by sandstorms

Failing to stop the march

Of microbial dread

An archaic witness to the rise of man

And stones on a river bed

Picked by hands

That can no longer

Wave goodbye

Thankfully now

A fading sight

With a rallying cry

From horror stricken faces

Vast expanses

Bridged by invisible germs

Not wearing masks

And unresponsive to names

A long view

Fireflies dance away

Flinging sparks of light

Rising after the sun

Bids farewell for the night

A luciferous vision

Dances with

The glint of wisdom

Behind the firefly’s flight

Under a frosted carpet

Rolled onto the night sky

Full of starry fires

Familiar cousins of the sun

The flight of light

To the protective edge

Of the frigid horizon

A sight to behold

For the wisdom seekers

In the night

Who are warmed

By the sparks that fly

Training the mind - 10

Icy clouds sandwiched

Between a fiery sun

And a blazing cauldron underground

A tender balance between anger and love

The sliver of land that is the earth’s surface and home to life as we know it is sandwiched between two giant fires. One is the sun and the other is the earth’s core. Both of these are vital for the existence of life on earth. Recently, scientists using a new X-ray technique (1) were able to determine the exact melting point of iron at a pressure that is at 2.2 million times that of the earth’s surface at sea level. Extrapolating these findings to the earth’s core where the pressure is 3.3 million atmospheres, they estimate that the earth’s core is almost 1800 F hotter than previous estimates. This makes the temperature of the earth’s core similar to that of the surface of the sun. This heat along with the earth’s rotation on its axis creates the magnetic field that is so vital to the existence of life on earth. Birds and turtles take advantage of this magnetic field and use it during migration. Without this magnetic field, charged particles from the sun called the solar winds would strip away the ozone layer exposing life on earth to harmful ultraviolet radiation.

Training the mind - 9

Time is a slow burning fire

A conflagration that consumes civilizations

The future is windward, past is leeward

Wisdom lights a fire that time cannot

Humans have always aspired to push the limits of physical endurance. In ancient Greece, an endurance run bringing a message of victory at the conclusion of the battle of Marathon between the Greeks and the Persians is commemorated even today. The marathon, a race that covers roughly the distance from Marathon to Athens, Greece is named after that ancient run. Now there are other feats that surpass the marathon in terms of pushing the limits of the physical body. These include officially sanctioned races such as ultra marathons covering over 100 kilometers, ironman triathlons etc. The Tour de France, an epic bike race around France, is another example of the test of not just physical capacity, but also mental strength. The “longest hour” in cycling is not the last hour of a three week race around France, but an hour long race against the clock. It is the farthest distance that can be covered in one hour on a bicycle. In 1972, Eddy Merckx, the Belgian bicycle racer, considered one of the all time greats in his sport set the hour record. He described that hour of riding as the “longest of my career”. Since that record setting feat, only three individuals have ridden further in an hour. Modern aerodynamic equipment was not available when Merckx set the bar, although he had the advantage of racing at high altitude in Mexico City where the aerodynamic drag is also less. He also said this about the longest hour, “Here it’s not possible to ease up, to change gears or the rhythm. The hour record demands a total effort, permanent and intense, one that’s not possible to compare to any other”.

White sands

Thirty-two little

White tigers

Protect the tongue

Lest it should slip

From the grainy

Heavens of white sand

Home of the wistful clouds

Sought by misty eyed seekers

Retreating back

The tongue speaks

A patois of that land

Suffused with a calming silence

Understood by those

Whose toes have mingled

In those sands

Of a timeless desert

The shadow of joy

A long shadow

Cast over the skies

Brings respite

From busy sights

Thousands of strings

A puppeteer’s fest

Tug at the hearts

Of men busy at work

Day and night

Contrasting colors

Come again and again

A reminder to the armchair bound

Of the shadow of joy

That lights the world

Giving every little pursuit

That much value

The shadow of joy

That no worldly light can match

Survives till time’s last instant

And never too late to find