SUKUN (STILLNESS)
by GAYATHRI NAIR C
There comes a night
when even longing
for the light
becomes too heavy.
The traveller removes
his dusty shoes.
The horse is untied.
The lantern is lowered.
The road continues
without him.
For once
he does not follow.
He listens.
A fountain speaks
beneath the courtyard stones.
A nightingale sings
to a rose
that does not need
to understand the song.
The traveller closes his eyes.
Not in defeat.
Not in surrender to darkness.
But because
he has finally discovered
that peace does not arrive
at the end of the journey.
Peace is what remains
when the journey
no longer needs an ending.
He breathes.
The world breathes.
And between the two
there is a silence
older than desire.
Sukūn.
Stillness.
The beautiful place
where seeking
comes to rest.
Published on the Writory Wall.