I
The world needed a break
Maybe nature thought so
Wanted millions and millions
To reconnect
With self
Reconnect
With the inner self
Reconnect with the inner
Circle- in that place
Called home.

How could one connect
With others in the outer circle
Without a connect
With self
And the selves in
The inner circle- in that
Place called home?

Did nature
Find an excuse
Some faults
Some errors
And wanted
To warn
Or take the bull
By its horn?
I don’t know.
But I know this-
Nature thinks
Beyond our think!
The best we know
Of nature is the best
We think we know
Nature thinks
Beyond and much
More. We are robots
In the lap of nature.

But someone has to
Shoulder
Someone has to carry
The weight
Of these extended
Know- self
Grow- self
Home-self
Days!

     II
Nature must have
Thought of noble ones
The kindest loving ones
And found them working
In the hospitals
On the roads
In offices
And in the homes.
They too didn’t
Know they would be
Such heroes!

Many kinds of heroes:
Those unaware of
The enemy
In the air-
The everyday people.
The warriors
The support; the services;
The patient tolerant types-
Even in homes
And those stranded
Away from homes.
Most don’t tell
Their stories
They are stories.

Listen up! Am I
Forgetting teachers
Educators, administators and all those
Service providers
Adapting to the new normal!
Making sure fresh young minds
Are learning and healthily occupied
With the support from home!
And sometimes even supporting those
Homes in ways told and untold!

The brave bold ones
Dare the enemy in the air
They know the risk
But deliver
In spite of it
Treating patients with
Support and services
Stretching to the streets
Heroes and the city Team!

Not to forget
The patients and those
We lost to the viral onslaught
Each put up a fight within
If not for them
Even the warriors wouldn’t
Be heroes.

There are moments of
Knowing that are
Felt not known
When self and self
Can’t separate
When love precedes
Love – love follows love
When Self can’t come first:
These make heroes!

The agencies and entities,
With their words, deeds,
Gestures, and responsibilities
The volunteers and well-wishers,
In neighbourhoods and society
Spreading their vibes.
May your type increase
You too are heroes!

To all known warriors and heroes
And those unknown whose stories will
Seldom unfold. Your sincerity and
Sacrifice strikes the heart and mind.

To you all-
Heroes known and unknown
I say this:
Good never goes
Waste
I can’t prove it
I can feel it
Look, for your
Pain and hardships
Risks, illness, sacrifice
Tolerance and
Patience
Stress, and so much more
Things are turning
Better, inch by inch.

This warless war
Almost became the
War On Humanity-
A war with fatalities
And pains and sufferings
And a greater potential
To deal a bestial blow
To the spirit of humanity.
Gratitude to the heroes!

     III
There can be moments
When the demands
Get the best of them.
The spirit of the hero
Prevails even when
Overwhelmed.
There will be bumps
On the road; it is the
Journey we note.
The balance sheet
Of life doesn’t lie.

There will be fakes
There will be misguides,
But you are free of
Petty toxic talks
Free of camps,
With no fence
You belong to none
You belong to all.

Every nation salutes
Its Fallen Heroes
And War Heroes.
Some day
The One Human Nation
Will do just that
At least in spirit
To the heroes
Of this warless war.

It’s the role of research
Heroes to do, to undo and
To redo the good that should be.
It’s your turn…Godspeed!

     IV
I will not flick
Broad strokes for
A rosy pic. There are
Those who need healing.
Their numbers are many
The situation- the reality- and
The human failings
Cost so many so steep.

There will be awakening
There will be blaming
There will be learning
There will be confessing
There will be corrections
Course corrections
And logical consequences…
There will be forgiving
There will be growing:
With one river flowing!

Change is good; sometimes
It doesn’t come
As early as it should.
But without
Sustaining the change
And moving on
What is it all about?
Nature knows best
Today is perhaps a test
For things to come,
In times to come:
Love for all
Or none to love.

They say the world
Will never be the same.
The world will change.
So be it.
For the best-
Please add this bit
Think positive
Do our positive bit,
Learning from the drift.

Accept a paradigm shift-
Building bridges
Within the bridge
Across bridges
Bridging bridges
From Self to Self
Within and without.
Connected as One
Different for sure.
The least
We could do
In our daily doings
In practical parts
In gratitude
To the human nation-
One Human Nation
And beyond
To creation
And beyond.
We are robots in the
Lap of nature.

     V
The soldiers of life earn
What those who give can feel.
None others. But
The feeling’s in each-
A matter of degree!
Different themes-
Different scenes
Different weeks
Different deeds
Different days
Halves and hours
Minutes and moments
A hero in each!
It is the spirit
Of the hero
That we celebrate.
It inspires us
To do our bit
Each a hero
A hero in each
With their bits
In the heart and mind
Even if nobody finds.

Copyright © 2020  Mahi Singh Gujral (www.magicofthemind.org) | Thoughts/Poetry – Making Sense (B)