What is the color of injustice?
It’s midnight black
And like the darkness of the moonless night
It wraps itself around you and starts squeezing
Injustice like a black cloth blindfolds you
And wrapped around your mouth, silences you
Injustice like a rope
Ties your hands behind your back and restricts you
Injustice is the thief that steals the light
Temporarily
But the darkness of injustice
Will give way to dawn
That day will come
November 2019
When I go through hard times
There are so many questions I ask myself
Why?
Why now?
Why again?
Didn’t I learn?
Why didn’t I see before what I see now?
Are there any good answers to these questions?
The answers are blowing in the wind
As the song says
The answers are illusive
My head becomes a jumble of thoughts
And it’s hard to make sense of it all
I can’t stop asking these questions though
I need clarity
Sometimes I need to accept the pain even though
I don’t have good answers to my questions
Sometimes all I can do is take it one day at a time
Or one hour at a time
Sometimes all I can do is to lean
On my friends and family for a while
I may never find the answers
But I will surly survive this painful experience
November 22nd, 2019
When you stop people from talking
When you close the schools down
When people can’t go to work
And the nation comes to a stop
There is something that’s not right
Something that can’t be explained away
In this age of communication
There is something wrong if you don’t let
people communicate
The seeming peace is a mirage
The embers are burning under the logs
Fire can still erupt from those embers
If the conditions are right
It’s not silence when you cover someone’s mouth
It’s not freedom if you don’t let people talk
November 17th, 2019
Thinking of the people of Iran
Sometimes in life
You have to live with uncertainty
And wait for clarity
Sometimes this depends on the people around us
Whose decision affects us
Certain questions don’t have a yes or no answer right away
The answer could be I don’t know or maybe, I’ll tell you later
How does one deal with uncertainty?
Perhaps through faith in the people around us
Those whose decision will impact us
Perhaps through prayer
Perhaps through resignation
Accepting things as they are
In any case uncertainty is part of life
November 15th, 2019
Is eternity too long to live
After we leave this world?
Will we get bored?
What are we going to do with all that time?
Eternity is very long
Will we have things to do, places to go, things to see?
They say we will be spirits
But what does that mean?
Why all this secrecy about life after we die?
There must be a wisdom in it
That we’ll only then find out
October 30th, 2019
Inspired by Emily Dickinson’s
‘Because I could not stop for death’
The sky is crying
The world is wet with tears
These are challenging times
People are more aware of their rights and are asking for them
They demand equality
They demand transparency
They are tired of being treated unfairly
They don’t want to remain quiet any longer
They are in the streets
They are letting the powers to be know that they have run out of patience
In a world where the top one percent have privileges that the majority of people don’t have
In a world where the focus is on greed and amassing wealth and increasing one’s power
In a world that we don’t respect the environment and don’t plan for future generations
Patience will run out
Protests will occur
People will march to have their demands heard
The world is on the precipice of big changes
October 28th, 2019
It’s early in the morning
It’s pitch black outside
The rest of the household is sleeping
But I’m wide awake
I pick up my phone
To see what my friends are up to
Their days have already started
They are awake
I talk to my friends in Europe
I talk to my friends in Iran
We talk about history
We talk about art
In this part of the world
My friends are still sleeping
But with the magic of technology
I’m in conversation with those who are not
October 26th, 2019
When I see the smile on Nicki’s face
When I feel the joy in his heart
I wish I could bottle it up
And drink it once in the morning
Once at night
The giggle, the laughter
The carefree ways
The joy, the enthusiasm
Come what may
To see all the possibilities
Not just the challenges
To smile at the world
With a radiant face
With these sentiments
Nicki overflows
Can I bottle that
Or is that a no?
But wish we can
And wish we may
A bottle of joy
Is my wish today
Pants are one of those garments that make life hard
Plus, they don’t have an irreplaceable raison d’être
A long top can over what needs to be covered
Or leggings will do the job
Pants wrap one’s waist in a tight embrace
I, however, like my mid-section free
Most pants legs hug you too tight
When did pants become like thick stockings?
Then comes shopping for pants
I do it every few years
Only to remember why I’ve not done that
The pants legs always fit me
But when it comes to the waist
It’s as if the pants have shrunk one size
Pair after pair I try my luck
But each time I’m disappointed
Then, I remember why I like leggings
They don’t fight with my midsection
That’s why leggings are my friend
That’s why I really don’t like pants
October 16th, 2019
They are slowly shedding the layers
They put on during the spring and summer months
Some have their colorful garb on
But some branches are naked
Vulnerable
Unable to hide
Unable to pretend
They feel a little shy
On plain view for all to see
And yet, after a while
They start to enjoy their newfound freedom
Freedom from layers of pretense
They feel lighter, more genuine
Vulnerability and freedom to be oneself
Go hand in hand
October 14th, 2019
lida's musings 