Photo by Aditya Saxena Fly like birds, Soaring in the skies, Majestic Kings of the earth above, Beyond the sight we are gifted. See what they see, From heights unimaginable, The miniscule details of this land, We plunder and conquer. The effects we have had, The transformations we have caused, The ugliness we have created, And the beauty we have destroyed. Search for those places, That still holds good, Amidst all these adversities, So that we can protect. The time is upon us, Change our nature and conserve, Salvage from what we have lost, In memory of what we were once given. Have the courage to do no harm, Be it living or inanimate, This is my faith, What goes around, comes back around.

Photo Credit: Sandra Mode The year has come to end, As the queen dawns the sky, In all her glory one last time, I write about the time expired. Another year of experience, Another step in a long career, Growing alongside the young and old, On this crossroads we are at. Hope I have grown the wiser, Hope I remember the lessons learnt, In the years to come, Hope I make better choices. There was more joy than before, There were disappointments too, There are times I'd remember forever, There are moments I will forget Another year is about to begin, With the promise of better times to come, One last play before spring begins, One last hurrah, the winter is here.

Photo Credit: LUM3N Fight and struggle are everlasting, Walk out of one walk in to another, At every turn and in all circumstance, As real as the air we breathe. The war with peers to succeed, The fight with family because of love, The struggle with nature to survive, The clash of opinions among friends They are bound to cause pain, Happiness otherwise, They are what lets us define, Our place in this glorious time. The recursive right of passage, Passed only by men of valor, Men with integrity in their blood, Who endured adversities with fortitude. Pride in the fight they take up, Respect for each other, In the long drawn war for living, Honour in the way they live and die .

Photo Credit: Chris Ensey Worship Gods carved into stones, With deep reverence stemming from generations, Wishing for health and prosperity, For yourself and your next of kin. Shower gifts and offerings in plenty, Hoping for a blessings, a better future, In return for our unsullied adoration, Pray stone Gods save our tomorrow. Do they truly? Or is it a facade of our "self", A "self" that we are too estranged to see, A "self" lost in the pages of our beliefs. Aching for validation in rocks, Why don't we chisel inward through the veils of our glorified illusion, Seek within, and reverberate with every speck for all the faith we yearn, And in return find the self that was once born pure. But if you must, pray to the sun that shines every morning, Pray to the winds that bring rain, Pray to the earth that lay beneath, Pray to your health that suffers your carnage everyday.

Pain so unbearable dwells within, All I want is to scream and shout. Suffocation is slowly creeping in, All I want is to not weep and bear it out. Where do I find the strength, I am breaking within. Where do I find the courage, the strength to win. Whom do I tell, this sorrow of mine. Whom do I confide, This pain I am in. Where should I go, This ache is seeping. What do I do, this agony is killing. Anger now inching ahead, Towards the core of my hell. Blacker than the moonless night, A dark and cold hearted spell. Fingers are burning to torture, My mind is yearning to kill, My bones are rattling with anger, heart in a spiraling chill. Stop me I am enraged, Enraged at my aimless plight. Hold me and put me in a cage, Before I unleash this dark grey light.