A Lesson Learnt in Time

Walking along a straight path

Went on looking all around.

The beauty, bounty and bliss,

The smell of success and joy’s sound.

The sights ensnared the senses,

The expectations enraptured the mind.

Went on and on unaware of the

Crater in the path divine.

Looking at the heavens above

Missed a gap in the ground below.

Fell into the endless trench

That stretched forever and was unknown.

Free falling deeper and deeper,

Continued the downward spiral.

The beauty, bounty, bliss and joy

Forgotten in the struggle for survival.

The dark and cold, the sorrow and stench

Chilled the core and spine.

The strength was gone, but belief was strong

To get over this awful time.

The uneven walls of the trench itself

Gave a chance to break the fall.

To find a feeble footing

And pull himself out of it all.

Thus began painful attempts,

Attempts to reach the top.

To smell success once again

And tread upon the path.

Every loss of footing,

Shook the belief, distanced the goal.

But memories of the sights and smells,

Fueled the will, strengthened the soul.

Slowly, slowly, patiently

Arose the panting tortured being.

Breathing in the pristine air,

The sunshine gave the first greeting.

Out of the cold and unknown pit,

Away from certain death

Thoughts came flooding in his mind

As he sat before the trench.

The spiral sapped the soul, no doubt,

And also troubled the mind.

But the torturous upward journey

Was a lesson learnt in time.

To draw strength from tiny rays of hope

In times of dire need.

To cast away despair and sorrow

And to just believe.

Another lesson taught by time

Was to tread with added care.

To spot any gaps or holes or pits

Waiting to trap the unaware.

- Shivani Satyarthi