BEING BROWN
My color does not rub off
on any one, said the brown
to the white, nor does it pale
on being exposed to you
we could share the same spa, the water will not change color
Don’t turn your face, your
back speaks the same language
as your steps echo the thoughts
laid bare, I may not react but
leave, turn back, with my body
dripping drops of abject dismay
You become the looking glass, denying
me my reflection, as in life everything
is a cause and effect, as are we, of the
same cause, two different effects, just
the same causes presented differently,
such is the way of our known world
Each time distaste is displayed, the
belief rises from layers of your past
to rèflect on your being - though
the scriptures prohibit, convenience
beckons and provides the blinkers
in this sequestered life of choosing
* ‘Tat tvam asi’ – you are what
you are – and I am the beautiful
me, without bleach and beyond the
veil – and, are we not all travelers
in search of the truth from the finite
to the infinite, in our equal existence
You do not get everything you
desire, since your life is chained to
your karma – your choices form
your destiny – not always in
black and white but often displayed
in many shades, mostly in between
We are a part of the form and the
formless, You can hurt the brown in
the form not in the Formless, so do
not judge - as you will be carrying
The baggage of a your fears in your
form searching the formless in time
In dreams that shelter hope, you
live, with goals that were never
complete - despite the faith or the
lack of it - as they ignored much of
the colour around – do your worst,
as the best in me, is yet to come
We will all be probably born again,
when the colours of this life change
our present life may dictate the next
as the past catches up in time, and
perhaps, we will meet once again,
when I am white and you brown
SUDHIR DIWAN 54 lines
Vedic literature
* ‘Tat tvam asi’ - you are what you are
and
‘Karma’ – your good or bad deeds
Vedic philosophy