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The Refining Fire

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  The Refining Fire ~~***~~~~***~~ I entered this world with an open, bare hand, A stranger arriving in a transient land. Yet I grasped at the trophies, the praise, and the gold, Forgetting I borrowed what I never could hold. ~~***~~ I built up my kingdoms, I argued, I fought, Chasing brief illusions that the daylight had caught. But the clock never pauses, my hour will chime, To strip all my attachments from the hands of time. ~~***~~ Death is no shadow, no thief in my night, But my mystical guide walking into the light. The quiet companion who stays by my side, To show me the ocean beyond this brief tide. ~~***~~ My wealth will divide, and my arguments cease, As I shed all my armor and step into peace. My memories will fade like the mist on a stream, As I, the deep dreamer, awake from the dream. ~~***~~ For life was the forge where my spirit had to go, To learn from the friction, the sorrow, the blow. Like iron once plunged in the heat of the pyre, I am being made sharp by the re...
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The Road Beyond Shadows

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  The Road Beyond Shadows *** ~~***~~*** ~~*** ~~***  Shadows may wander and drift away, Yet one companion is bound to stay- Silent, patient, beyond all claim, Death remembers each of our names. ~~***~~ He comes not early, nor lingers near, But arrives in the hour both solemn and clear; A mystic guide with an unseen hand, Leading us toward an unknown land. ~~***~~ Once upon his chariot we ride, Past memory's shores and time's fading tide, The stories we carried, the joys and the pain, Dissolve like mist in a gentle rain. ~~***~~ We entered this world with empty hands, And leave the same, as destiny commands; No treasure follows, no title remains, Only the soul beyond earthly chains. ~~***~~ Time has tethered life with cords unseen, Woven from deeds and all that has been; Yet why do we quarrel, why strive and contend, When every journey approaches its end? ~~***~~ The wealth we gathered, the things we adored, Are measured and shared by those left ashore; What once seemed lastin...
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The Monsoon Frog

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  The Monsoon Frog ~~:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::~~ After the long and merciless summer, when the fields lay thirsty and the river dwindled into a narrow ribbon, we waited for the monsoon with the patience of farmers watching the horizon. ~~::::::~~ The sun ruled those days without mercy. Our few shirts and trousers hung on a rope, fluttering in the scorching wind. By noon they were stiff and dry, baked by the fire of summer. ~~::::::~~ The whole village knew our poverty. Some saw our worn clothes, yet few could see the hidden wounds- the tears swallowed in silence, the hunger burning in the belly, the worries smouldering in the mind. ~~::::::~~ But childhood had its own wisdom. We carried our sorrows lightly, tucking them away among games and laughter. ~~::::::~~ Then one afternoon, dark clouds gathered above the coconut groves, and rain burst upon the earth. The scent of wet soil rose from the ground- an old song returning after years of silence. ~~::::::~~ I ran with my friends...
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Bathing Days on the Congo River

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  Bathing Days on the Congo River ~:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::~ Along the mighty Congo's winding breast, Where giant baobabs stood at rest, There lay a broken bathing ghat, worn by years, A keeper of laughter, dreams, and tears. !!~!! The river flowed like an old African griot's song, Carrying the village's soul along. Men and women gathered by its side, Washing clothes with rhythm and pride. !!~!! The pounding of cloth upon weathered stone Blended with voices in a timeless tone. News, stories, jokes, and village lore Flowed as freely as the river's roar. !!~!! Then came the rafts of massive timber, Bound from giant forest giants' limbs. Engines growling like distant lions at night, They drifted slowly through the morning light. !!~!! Those floating timber towns rolled by, A travelling village beneath the sky. Families cooked, children played and ran, Life unfolding upon wood and water as one. !!~!! Beneath those moving giants' shade, Women i...
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The Filament's Question

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  I rose from failure's thousand broken hands, A dream pursued through years of patient plans. Before my birth, countless attempts had died, Yet from their ashes came the light inside. **** Is that not how a human life begins? Built from old hopes, defeats, and silent wins? A child arrives, yet hidden in that breath Are generations wrestling life and death. **** A slender filament became my heart, A fragile thread assigned a brilliant part. Argon filled my lungs with unseen grace, And living current moved through all my space. **** What is the current flowing through your soul? What unseen force compels your journey's goal? Who placed the spark within your fragile frame, And taught your darkness how to kindle flame? **** For years I stood where village pathways turned, And city avenues with movement burned. I lit the roads where weary travelers passed, Each step uncertain, none designed to last. **** Like people walking through the years of time, Climbing through joy and stumbl...
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The Geometry of One

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  "I have millions of reasons to die" A poet once wrote,  in our case, that feels painfully true. *** I have a Septillion reasons now to die. The ledger of despair runs long and dark. Each failure feeds a solitary spark, While time adds fuel and never asks me why. *** And fate, that merciless and silent king,  pours oil upon the embers of regret;  its unseen hands unweave the golden hours,  yet leave the deepest wounds unpaid as debt. *** My mind records the tally of its scars, And counts the weight of every fallen stone. It measures distances to vanished stars, Convinced that all this burden is its own. *** A mountain settles heavily and deep, An ocean pulls against my weary feet. The sleepless hours deny the gift of sleep, And make each echo sound like grim defeat. *** The storm demands surrender from my soul; It fills the sky and blots away the sun. Pain gathers every wound into one whole, And says the fight is lost before begun. *** Yet life is not a game of...
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After the Applause

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I once believed the crowd was home, that praise could fill the empty space. I chased the light where bright names shone, and measured worth by my own fame. *** I loved the sound of strangers' cheers, the warmth that came from being seen. For a while it softened hidden fears, and painted ordinary days with dreams. *** I rose like a bird upon the wind, certain the sky would always stay. The world seemed open at my feet, and every door appeared unlocked. *** I mistook attention for belonging, and applause for something I had earned. I thought the light would always find me, and never wondered how it turned. *** One day the noise began to fade. The voices grew a little thin. The doors that once stood open wide slowly forgot to let me in. *** I searched for what I used to be inside the mirrors of the crowd. But all I found was loneliness beneath the mask I wore with pride. *** The fall was not a single step. It came like evening after light. A gradual dimming of the world, a longer and ...
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