The cool breezes stir
among the tallest fir trees...
dappled sunlight shines.
...

~~

*Once, I was a hard sand stone
Neither had I made a tune nor a tone
I had broken after a strong shock wave
From a waterfall, I had fallen into a pothole but could not settle

After I was moving with a long stream as a rolling stone
Now I have no edge but only passing a phase
A few days ago, I discovered myself as a grain of sand
And day by day, I have been drowning beneath the ocean

~~

@ Musfiq us shaleheen

1** ~   Figure out what you want,
                      learn to ask for it. Nobody
                      can read your mind.

2 ~    Nobody will love you the
                      way you imagined.

3 ~     Life does not come
                       with a reboot option.

4 ~     People are not covered
                       under manufacturer's warranty.

5 ~     Everything comes with a
                       shelf life, including
                       relationships.

6 ~    Nothing is permanent.
                       Nothing comes free.
                       Why pay for temporary
                        illusions.

7 ~      Even if they hate you.
                        At least they tried.

8 ~      You only live once
                         till you die once.

9 ~       Make happiness a
                         compulsion. Don't let
                         sorrow choose you.

10 ~    Sometimes lose everything.
                         You realize your worth.

Aching with melancholic memories,
The sea stands, Freedom carving her wings, Beholden to nobody.
Each wave destroying the remaining morsels of empathy that she still harbours.
One cannot imprint themselves on water,
But footprints are etched onto the sand.
Here's a little secret though- the sand is but swallowed by the sea.
The colours contort from one gruesome grey to another.
The days she is blue, the beast lies dormant,
Waiting for the black to raise its ugly head.
So free I think,
Water turning to fire, defined only by her existence.
Everything pales in comparison, the sun, the sky, the clouds.
But then I realise- what is the sea? Where are her colours from?
She is nothing but a reflection of the sky.
Her moods influenced by the clouds.
Free? I laugh.
She is captured.