A Cloud And A Pine Tree

When we were little... my dad would take us for our summer holidays to the hills of Shimla

We went there 5 years in a row

While my kid brothers where whooping it up at the roller skating rink

I remember just laying for hours on a bed of pine needles

Squinting at the blue sky and at the clouds through the pine trees

The air so fragrant

And filling my pockets with pine cones to take back home with me

Life always felt dreamlike

I felt dreamlike

Clouds floated on high
And I found myself floating along

Much like when you're seated in a stationary train
And another whizzes past
And you can't tell anymore
Who's moving
And who's still

I lay on the ground
On a carpet of pine needles

And the fragrance of the hills filled my nostrils
And that perfume was my very breath

Pine trees towered over me

And as I looked up
I would find I'd stretched along with the tree

Touching the sky

Swaying gently in the breeze

Rooted in the earth

The dream stepped lightly then
Tip-toeing softly

Weaving in and out
With utter ease

Now a cloud
Now a pine tree
Now a me

The magic was always there
Never separate

What turned the feet so heavy
Leaden
Cast in cement

The horrors
Slowly creeping into the dream

Weighing down

And the anchor began to descend
Solidifying the dream

Casting life
Pouring me
Into a mould of concrete

Suddenly the dream took on a reality
Rock solid

And left me wondering
What is this place
What world is this
That I've woken up into
And find myself in
Feeling so lost

Brick by brick by brick
The citadel
Was complete

And searching seeking
To reclaim the dream
And again the dreamer be
Where I'd felt so at home

And the cracks began to appear

The constriction of the band of pain
Wrapped so tight
Choking the life out of me

The edifice began to crumble
And the light poured in

Or did it pour out

Enlit from within

Out and in

It was all the dream
Even the dreamer
Dreamt

I'd never left home

There was no one left to be
A dreamer
Nor awakened

No one left to be

I stand on my balcony
And eyes alight on the waters of the lake below

And I find myself flowing

A ripple again

And catch a glint of sunshine
Slip sliding over me

And I look at grandma's treasure chest

Delightful precious babies
Jewels themselves

Bearing gifts

Sticks and shiny stones
All shapes and colours and sizes

And leaves of varied hues

And rocks and bits
Oh "asteroids" actually...

And feathers...
Pigeons?
Nooooo siree

Eagle!!
If you please...

And a pinecone somewhere in the mix...

And I say to myself...lookee there...
There you be's ...

And smile to myself

And clouds float by
And me
And the fragrance of pine trees
Fills my nostrils

And that breath is me

Memories waltz lazily

Memories of dreams
And me

And I look into your eyes
And find innocence looking back at me
Through you

And I sing

And there it goes again
This spinning dream
Whirling dervish

Singing songs of a cloud
And a pine tree

And you
And me

Singing dream songs
Of dreams

Empty fluted memories
Songs mellifluous

Doing and undoing me

This floating dream
Of many a splendorous things