A New Year’s wish

As the old year rolls past and the new rings in,
It’s a time to reminisce, rub the slate clean and chalk out new horizons to conquer, new avenues to explore and new skies to reach out for.
But before I bundle up my memories of thick and thin and stow them away in a  finely-veiled corner of my mind, there are a few memories that I pluck out and tuck away, right beside my heart where I can watch over them forever.
Just like the many others that have stayed behind, etched themselves a niche none other can replace.
Special moments, special smiles, special laughter, special tears, special people…

And as the last few minutes of this weary old year slip away, I steal but a moment to whisper “Thank you” into the winds and watch it flutter away to where only you hear it.
It is these two words which embody the very essence of how this year has passed and glimmer with the hope of the endless days to come…
Times when I can look up to you for advice, gaze at the stars with you in newfound wonder, cock my head in a guilty bow,
Borrow a smile from your generous lips, hold your hands for innumerable first steps,
Ease away a frown from those powerful shoulders that never flinch, follow your path into a world yet un-chartered,
Lead you into my crystal heaven and watch you approve with a half-bemused smile.

The road winds on, but the journey still young remains – just like every dream we have dreamed, every song we have sung and every vow we have sworn.

And as the new dawn awakens, I look into the golden light and whisper words of gratitude, words of faith and words of togetherness… words that live on until many a lifetime have ceased to exist.

The man who changed my world

I stood at the crossroads…
The road stretched ahead of me,
Unending,
As far as the eye could see.

I stood alone, unafraid,
The foolish courage seemed to stem from within,
From the very fact that I was unperturbed,
No matter how wrong the path I chose was.
No, I couldn’t care less.
I shrugged defiantly…
Every new step, always the wrong foot.

And then I met him.

There he was,
Calm, serene and frightening.
Frightening not because he imposed,
But his eyes raised questions….
Questions I had shunned into the darkest recesses of my mind,
Questions that had been trampled upon by the decadent artifice around me….
Oh that artifice!
It had lured, tugged, drawn me into a whirlpool of never-ending despair,
All the while mocking me with a laugh,
A laugh so light and cheerful it chilled me to the bone.

I looked into those eyes again,
Closer, deeper and with a new sense of despair,
They smiled back at me,
Eyes which were now pools of liquid love,
Love that flooded my heart until I felt I would burst,
Such was my ecstasy.

My soul opened itself to him,
Revealing with naked honesty,
Its hideous scars, its ugly façade, its grotesque bitterness.

He drew me close to him,
And raised a mirror to me,
“This”, he said, “Is how I see you,
“This is what you are to me,
Beautiful.”

I peered into the mirror hesitantly,
Unsure at first and then enchanted,
It reflected faithfully,
Not what I was, but that which I was meant to be,
And my lips closed over a word half-said,
Beautiful.