Author: fjhaider

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The magic of new beginnings

Like butterflies flitting in the garden from flower to flower

Moments were darting here and there in the rush hour

I ran after some in an effort to catch them

Their speed was awesome I could not match them

Tired I closed my eyes and sat back in relaxation

In the serenity of time and space I grasped their reflection

Moments were a process I realized as they transformed

It’s the memories they left behind to which I had warmed

I must make each moment count I now knew

How else will I keep making fresh memories to renew

 

The magic of new beginnings was sweeping the morning skies

The wind beneath my wings took me to where the eagle flies

Every breath I inhaled I knew I must evolve and grow

Every day I failed to flourish some magic would go

Those tedious routines filled with prejudices and pretenses

Must be shed like old skin as if dropping all defenses

Dawn brings me fragrances of different learning and leaning

Dusk draws the curtain on old grudges the spirit needs spring cleaning

New beginnings are so often disguised as a painful ending

You don’t have to be scared of setbacks you can start over each morning

Thank you

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A prayer and some faith

I have all the things I need the wants remain still

I cannot bequeath all I have and transcribe my will

I keep asking for more things and I cannot even wait

When all I now need or want is a prayer and some faith

 

I work at this never-ending list ticking off each goal

Achievers are the role models I am mimicking their role

Is this a universal syndrome or my own idiosyncratic trait

For all I actually need or want is a prayer and some faith

 

I strive to impress the world around me but of no avail

Memories are terse temperaments impatient I often fail

Why do I wish to alter my individuality or improve my gait

While all I really need or want is a prayer and some faith

 

The Pharaohs built a pyramid each to suffice for after-life

And spent entire lifetimes building and battling strife

If the one lesson I can very well learn and not take this bait

Is that all I truly need or want is a prayer and some faith

 

Trials and mistakes judgements to face and heartbreaks

These are part and parcel of life this is what it takes

To make a diamond from mere coal let’s get that straight

And all I sincerely need or want is a prayer and some faith

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Chaos

Words made noise. Emotion caused chaos. Beliefs floated

At least I had my silence I thought. My silences were misquoted

I am learning life lessons because learning must be my mission

A mistake repeated more than once is not a mistake. It’s a decision

Now I know I must make way and leave from where I am not wanted

What I allow is what will continue. I had allowed to be taken for granted

 

Paint was splattered. Hues were darkened. The spotlight shifted

At least I had my authenticity I felt. My truths were shoplifted

I am changing attitudes and affinities because attitudes raise the bar

Your attitude is like a price tag. It shows how valuable you are

Not everyone deserves to know the real me. So many verdicts are spam

My happiness cannot rely on your judgement. Criticize who you think I am

 

People changed. Things ended. Life still goes on

Every night drowned in darkness is always followed by dawn

The world had me believe emotions and opinions must be given vent

As I mature I realize so many things don’t really need my comment

A lifetime isn’t as long as you think. Take a moment and let that sink

Between your choices and your culpabilities there is always a link

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The things we worry about!

Stray thoughts. And thoughts that stray!

 

Don’t worry if you are not invited or don’t have networks to boast

It’s the ones who spurn you who believe in your power the most

If you look at the people in your circle and you are not inspired

You don’t have a circle you have a cage that is rewired

 

One thing about the tables they have tendency to turn

Some connections need rebuilding some bridges need to burn

If the world was full of blind people who would you impress

If your appeals fell on deaf ears how would you express

 

Words are free it’s how you use them that may cost you

Long drawn pieces trigger drama keep your words to few

The quieter you become the more you will be able to hear

Even silences can be misquoted let responses remain sheer

 

Listening to gossip is like accepting stolen property

You may maintain your silence you are just as guilty

Talking badly about someone while they aren’t there to clear doubt

Says more about you than the person you are talking about

 

Walk away from fights that will never be resolved

Walk away from immaturity that refuses to evolve

If you can’t do anything about it just let it go

What does not let you free will not help you grow

 

Turn your wounds into wisdom. Your battles into motivation

Just breathing can be such a luxury. Acquit affectation

What you are not changing you are choosing. Choose with care

Spaces are brittle moods crumble. We repeat what we don’t repair

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Things I should have….

The lessons I should have learnt

The keepsakes I should have burnt

The attitudes I should have preserved

The responses I should have deserved

The emotions I should have erased

The baggage I should have shed with every phase

The people I should have treasured

The value of things I should have measured

I am standing at crossroads looking at the skies

I am appraising a lifetime and time just flies

 

The aptitudes I should have learnt

The behaviors I should have burnt

The traditions I should have preserved

The approvals I should have deserved

The pessimisms I should have erased

The assurance I should have acquired with every phase

The memories I should have treasured

The worth of relations I should have measured

I am looking back with some qualm some wisdom

I am looking forward to a well-informed freedom

 

The balances I should have learnt

The reluctances I should have burnt

The confidence I should have preserved

The direction I should have deserved

The cynicism I should have erased

The faith I should have gained with every phase

The genuineness I should have treasured

The merit of truth I should have measured

I am walking with the multitude and I am alone

I am dwelling on my solitude setting a new tone

 

The languages I should have learnt

The verbiage I should have burnt

The nuances I should have preserved

The understandings I should have deserved

The arrogances I should have erased

The bent I should have added with every phase

The mystique I should have treasured

The quality of life I should have measured

I am alive stumbling recovering hurting and healing

I am work in progress filled with familiarities and feeling

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Quest

If I am to seek knowledge I must be prepared

Knowledge gives power the ego must be repaired

When knowing is not accompanied by humility

That expertise and experience begets but futility

 

If I am to seek wealth I must learn to spend well

Wealth gives influence the mind must dwell

When money is not expended for the good of all

That fortune and affluence will only cause downfall

 

If I am to seek authority I must know how to face

Rebel and naysayers with dignity and grace

When clout is not used with mellowness and caution

That muscle and power brings forth dangerous options

 

If I am to seek affinities I must instill empathy

Relationships cannot last on mirth or sympathy

When the bonding is superficial and the space is forced

That connection cannot bring joy the magic is lost

 

If I am to seek friendships I must be ready to let go

Individual idiosyncrasies must be ignored for it to grow

When camaraderie is not combined with genuineness

That friendship will break your heart leaving you in a mess

 

If I am to seek peace and quiet I must imbibe patience

Ups and downs will come and go I must develop endurance

When equanimity is practiced the base must be gratitude

That calm and poise will dissipate with the wrong attitude

 

If I am to seek Nirvana I must infuse simplicity to live

Not empty talk but to actually give and to forgive

When satisfaction becomes way of life and anger is absent

That bliss and harmony will synchronize past and present

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Dents and repairs

Don’t focus on what you lack

The comeback is always stronger than the setback

We fall we break we fail we overcome we heal

We recoup our strength the most when we kneel

 

Don’t give up easily and just bide your time

The best view comes after the hardest climb

When it rains look for rainbows when its dark look for stars

The lionhearted own their beautiful scars

 

Don’t lose hope don’t lose heart

You will never be ready. Just start

You either have a crack at progress or a bunch of excuses

What would you rather have – a real story to tell or just muses

 

Don’t treat each day as eventual

Be obsessed with your own potential

If the plan does not work change the plan not the goal

Remember the reward for patience is ten-fold

 

Don’t stop until you are proud

Do it for yourself not to please the crowd

Those silent battles those broken dreams and what it meant

You have wiped your own tears now celebrate your strength

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Breathe

 

Learn to leave what does not make you happy

The heart will aggrieve unnecessarily

Mend the broken pieces like kintsugikurashi

Gratitude is that golden binding enhancing chi

Cry a little and laugh a lot

Be grateful for all the things you have got

Your pain is unique to you who will understand

You can only do as much as is in your hand

Learn to leave the rest to God

He is omnipotent so what if we are flawed

Who can solve your problems if not Him

Being is ubiquitous and challenge is your theme

Prayers can alter the lines across your hand

Engrave gratefulness in the heart write your worries in the sand

 

Learn to breathe take one day at a time

Practicing patience does not cost a dime

Heal the broken spirit each breath is on lease

Let go of your rigidity of thought and prejudice

Sadness comes and teaches us the value of happiness

Anxieties test our mettle that mettle is our premise

Nothing is forever joys and pains find evenness

Lifespans are spanned within set time and space

One day when we look back we will realize the futility

Of quibbles and squabbles and a material mentality

Forgetting and forgiving are the only things that benefit

The spirit and the soul indefinable pleasures are your profit

Learn to breathe let go of judgements that is the best cure

This moment is the only one you know you have for sure

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Choices

If you were asked to choose

One name then whose

Destiny would you take

In exchange of yours to make

A new life

Their strife

Their joys and ecstasies

Their pains and fantasies

Will now become yours

Take a pause

And slowly choose

I have a feeling you will refuse

If you realize just how good

Your own journey has been you would

Comprehend how another’s shoes

Can be too tight or too loose

And never meant for you

You will always get what is your due

It’s up to you to choose chance or choice

And give your trajectory your voice

Or keep wishing you had somebody else’s life

Cravings are forever rife

We often meet our destiny on the very road we avoid

Bring your colors to the table and go fill up the void

 

If you were asked to choose

One attribute then whose

Feature would you desire

When it came down to the wire

Would you select tangible assets

Or would you prefer facets

Of character and charisma

Remember what makes them an enigma

May not suit your bill

Until

You have the total combination

So often our fascination

With another’s ownership

Of things is only the tip

The iceberg of facts stays well hidden

The rest of the world has access forbidden

The perfect face could hide real feeling

The sweet tongue could have a sugarcoated ring

Wealth health lifestyles could easily beguile

Motive and motivation be agreeable or wile

What you covet will come at a price

Like the throwing of a dice

Luck hangs in midair awaiting for you to adjust

And then you have no choice. Adjust you must

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Fragments of time…

Fragments of the heart were lying around embittered

When came along some free time which I had frittered

Questioning my lack of enthusiasm and intent

Precious moments underutilized and somewhat spent

‘I am static I am moving I am gone yet you recall’ time said

If you don’t repair the spirit verily soon it will be dead

 

Fragments of memory were playing mischief with my mind

I kept going back for the things that I had left behind

Now time prodded me to keep in step with its pace

‘Don’t treat like I am yours forever I disappear without trace’

Wistfulness and lassitude will take over and hold sway

If you let yesterday use up too much space today

 

Fragments of timeworn relations were awaiting restoration

No stress-free task this it needs maturity and motivation

Time heals people said even as life passes by

When in reality life pauses God heals and time continues to fly

‘I am yours to spend yet not to own. I am free yet priceless still’

If it’s not destined it won’t work out if it’s meant for you it will

 

Fragments of my soul were being tested for their wisdom

Where trust was being broken faith was my fiefdom

It takes sadness to appreciate happiness and noise to value silence

The trouble is we think we have time it soon becomes our defense

Time reminded me ‘nobody was ever wise by chance’

If you are not learning your lessons how do you expect to advance