The Land
by Nell-Lynn Perera in Creative Arts | 5 Comments | Add your comment

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I walked a path for years.
It was mostly dark, most
days, I could
hardly see the sun,
for the trees, they were sheltering her rays.
There were flowers of exotic varieties.
I had never seen anything like them before.

Their colour was always a brilliant red.
Against the dark trees, they resembled rubies.
I also saw animals.
But only monkeys, swinging on the trees.
Many times I strayed from the path, as I wanted to pet them.
And many times I did.
I also plucked those flowers, as I couldn’t
keep my hands and eyes off them.
Their scent was sweet smelling like candy floss.
The path itself though, was mostly muddy,
I lost my shoes without realizing.
I never seemed to be able to walk for long.
Twice, I had stepped on quick sand.
I didn’t cry out for help, perhaps because I
never saw anyone, I had only seen monkeys.
Just as I believed I would become one with the earth,
a hand grabbed mine.
Til’ this day, I have
no idea who saved me.

This path, it has now ended.

It came to an end when I chose to stop walking.
I sat in silence, with
my eyes wide shut.

I saw a vast land
with clear blue skies.
So vast this land was, I couldn’t see its end.
The oak trees were towering and a few.
They seemed to be trying to reach the skies.
The sun,
she shone glistening rays.
I was bathed in warmth, while the breeze was cool.
I didn’t see any monkeys, only birds
and unicorns.
The birds, they looked like pelicans.
When they weren’t in the skies, I saw them swimming
in a lake.
The earth, it was filled with grass so soft,
it made my feet believe it was
walking on a velvety lush carpet instead.
Dandelions, they danced gracefully like ballerinas
flying high, doing somersaults in the air.

There was no one there,
only me. And I
loved it.

Today, I live in this land.

The path, it no longer exists.

Perhaps it never really did.

ABOUT THE COLUMNIST

Nell-Lynn Perera’s favorite past times are writing proses and painting. Being able to connect with people through them has encouraged her to continue doing both with a growing passion. Many times upon reading her poems or looking at her artwork, people assume that she’s living through what she wrote or painted – not necessarily so. She writes to inspire people mostly, even if it’s through a dark piece of writing or art. In life, she’s realized most things are relative. And everything shall pass. This is the beauty of life.

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