Ascent

“Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?”
(Frida Kahlo)

Balance… Balance is not symmetry. For everything in this journey of life we are on, there is a right wing and a left wing: for the wing of love, there is anger; for the wing of destiny, there is fear; for the wing of pain, there is healing; for the wing of hurt, there is forgiveness; for the wing of pride, there is humility; for the wing of giving, there is taking; for the wing of tears, there is joy; for the wing of rejection, there is acceptance; for the wing of judgment, there is grace; for the wing of honour, there is shame; for the wing of letting go, there is the wing of keeping. We can only fly with two wings, and two wings can only stay in the air if there is a balance.

Having two desired wings is perfection. And perfection is not balance. Nature seeks balance. You cannot have two coveted wings at the same time, nor can you equilibrate with just one wing. A bird with one wing is imperfect; an angel with one wing is unblessed; a butterfly with one wing is dead. Life is a balanced system of learning and evolution. Whether pleasure or pain, every situation in your life serves a purpose. So there could be no joy on this planet without an equal weight of pain to balance it out on some unknown scale.

In each of us lie good and bad, light and dark, art and pain, choice and regret, cruelty and sacrifice. We’re each of us our own chiaroscuro, our own bit of illusion fighting to emerge into something solid, something real. This verse is one such moment of discovery of the self from a shackled state of inactivity to a long-desired flight.

Crippled by memories
          and a chaos undefined,
the wings failed her
like a caged bluebird,
fluttering to no avail,
in hope of finding a nest, tried her best –
grounded, no sky to fly;

like the forlorn bird,
          her wounded soul, silent with a sigh.

Life’s bruises cleansed by time;
longing for the elixir of regeneration
she didn’t even dare,
she didn’t even try.

Hearing a birdsong
                    nearer,
          clearer,
dearer,
utterly sincere with every daylight’s cheer,
a calm copulated with her awakening,
transcending, ascending,

         enabling her to fly
                  yet once more
                            up, up high.

 

This poem is loosely inspired by the French film, “Portrait of a Poet”, directed, filmed and edited by Kendy Ty. The short film features French poet Mai Vallee narrating one of her own poems. The movie will be screened at the Las Vegas Film Festival 2013.

Watch the movie below (Please pause the background music to stop interference with the video playing. You can do so from the “♪ Roll your Soul ♫” section on the right. Sincerest apologies for the inconvenience caused.):

In case your flash player is giving problems, you can also view it here.

Copyright © 2012-2013 Tanumoy Biswas and The Nomadic Soliloquist. All Rights Reserved.