Secluded in vast expanses I do not hide
From eyes, at least not intentionally and though
I stand tall for everyone to see to indulge
In the glimmering solace my essence offers
Blindly and though, all decant my lymph and live
Within me, behold my beauty, my peace, my strength
Desire to never leave me, the generous shelter
I represent, the endless smile of understanding,
Compassion, healing droplets of calmness
Cognisance, not amused by similarities but in awe
For the pellucid seraphic unique identity of all, as all
Is one and none is different, not an island on its own,
Not an abandoned fish in the ocean, yet all
Appear to me ineluctably sad and desperate
Lost in desolateness, and humbly I confess
I do not comprehend, despite my efforts I am blown
Away by the paradox of the widely-shared malady
A malady of loneliness creepingly diffusing
Contagious, infecting each piece of the whole,
Amidst such variety galore by nature moulded
To be one, the glory of playful particles composing all,
I do not comprehend, the auto-inflicted division,
The aspired separateness, the self-imposed exile from realness,
From the only truth that stands, forever has and will,
The sole truth the universe contemplates, its laws uphold,
That which its breath ceaselessly whispers in every quarter
Through whooshing winds, rustling leaves, crashing waves,
Trickling rivulets, gurgling rivers, even primal rocks reveal it,
Pattering rains, crackling lightning, rumbling thunders,
Crunching glaciers, snapping branches, all voices repeating
The breath into life to life clamouring, that all is one and none
Is different, not an island on its own, not an abandoned fish
In the ocean, so when the high tide compels me to hide
From eyes I ponder, my tears concealed by seas I weep
For the impuissance, and finally, infected myself, the solitude
I feel afore this inexplicable mass-surrender
To this paradoxical disease.

[Featured photo: Mangrove tree, Bunaken National Marine Park, Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, by Leena Roy, winner of Plants and Planet category for International Garden Photographer of the Year competition 2024]