That very seed of the universe…

That very seed

of the universe…

which you long

to behold—

that…

is none other

than me.

So leave this world aside

for once,

and look… at me.

Within us

the entire cosmos lies concealed,

vast beyond measure.

Unfold it—

if truly

you wish to see.

In your eyes

its reflection appears;

within the pupils

it gathers itself

in but a moment—

how unfathomably deep!

Have you ever sat quietly

and wondered—

why is it so?

What is it

that you seek to know?

You yourself

are the universe.

A single moment

of waiting

is an entire age…

when stretched

to its furthest intensity.

Like a bow

drawn back

to the ear—

savage, wild,

amid forests, ravines,

aimed toward me,

only a few moments remain

before release.

Then remember:

every passing instant

had once felt immense.

Life itself

stood dwarfed

before

that one moment—

how could

a single instant

be so endlessly long?

This thing we call time

is merely waiting—

nothing more.

If there were

no possibility

of ending,

of death,

then time itself

would lose all meaning.

Destruction alone

is the measure of time;

otherwise,

not even imagination

could conceive it.

Time is merely erosion—

in truth,

it possesses

no independent existence.

Who shall ask:

where is our Earth—

swaying, dancing,

suspended in the void,

circling the Sun

day and night,

becoming years?

Truthfully,

all this

is absurd chatter.

Ask an astronaut someday:

up there in space,

time becomes merely…

a thought.

This fear within us—

that is time.

Our ending—

that is time.

All transformation itself

is time.

Think upon it.

Descend deeper

into the well

of life.

Upon a broken cot

we sat

throughout the night,

and not a single complaint

touched our lips.

How utterly

enchanted

you were—

I wonder today.

Are you still

that same person now?

How strangely

time passed then—

less than a moment it seemed.

There was bliss…

but perhaps

it was not you,

nor even I—

that bliss itself

was all that existed.

Jai Prakash Mishra