A Feeling Rare

“Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love.
The real miracle is the love that inspires them.” 
(Marie Lloyd)

Miracle. Serendipity. Divine intervention. These often define the willingness to see the common in an uncommon way. Most people’s lives are a series of little miracles – strange coincidences which spring from uncontrollable impulses and give rise to incomprehensible dreams. We spend a lot of time pretending that we are normal, but underneath the surface each one of us knows that he or she is unique. Each one of us experiences miracles of some form, but we don’t realize when we do – miracles of healing, an answered prayer, an unexpected happy ending. Each comes quietly and simply, on tiptoe… so we hardly get to perceive its occurrence.

In fact, miracles are everyday things. Not only the sudden, great good fortune, wafting in on a new wind from the sky. They are almost routine, yet miracles just the same. Every time something hard becomes easier; every time we find a solution which until last week was non-existent; every time a kindness falls as softly as the dew, or someone we love who was unwell gets better; every time a blessing comes, not with trumpet and fanfare, but silently, at night… we have witnessed a miracle.

To love someone is to see a miracle invisible to others. This verse is a reflection of one such moment of serendipity when love decided to work in unknown ways:

A moment of pause and a pile of paper, 
Secret glances confirming the shy beat; 
A fleeting vision, the quintessence
Of a feeling rare and no retreat.

The kiss of destiny flirts in midair
Waiting for the heart to make a choice –
The window of hope plays its trick,
Knowing clearly yearnings of inner voice.

But despair, like a beggar’s flypaper,
Builds up reveries and sinks them deep;
A momentary delay across the road
Turns all hope into a floating heap.

Serendipity is a fisherman’s catch,
On a brighter day, for a greater cause:
For the kiss of destiny then plays its part,
Rising up an army with no clause.

The bouquet of love is not of flowers,
But of journeys forever divine.
A pile of paper if given a heart
Knows no barrier, no contour line.

At long last came the desired moment,
Secret glances confirming they meet;
A fleeting vision, the quintessence
Of a feeling rare and no retreat.

This poem is inspired by ‘Paperman’, a 2012 black-and-white 3D hand-drawn/computer animated romantic comedy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and directed by John Kahrs. The film won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 85th Academy Awards.

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 problem, you can also view it here.

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