SATIS SHROFF

 

SATIS SHROFF

 

O, Solitude

 

O, solitude you give me time

 

To behold Nature’s beauty;

 

Spring awakening,

 

The smell of April floral perfumes,

 

The heat of the sun in July,

 

The greenness of the meadows the flowers

 

And the blue mountains

 

Of the Dreisam Valley.

 

 

The beauty of the rhymes

 

Made to the damsels,

 

Wearing red pom-pom hats,

 

In the lovely Schwarzwald.

 

Or to Italian beauties

 

In Verona or Venice.

 

Praises and promises,

 

To the lips, eyes, brows and necks

 

 

In times of solitude you eradicate your lust,

 

And begin to think.

 

Is solitude loneliness?

 

No, it isn’t unless you’re isolated,

 

Or doing solitary confinement,

 

Or suffering from sensory deprivation.

 

 

Solitude in daily life,

 

Moments of being alone to think,

 

Work mentally, contemplate

 

Or observe Nature,

 

And thereby attain clarity and self-esteem.

 

 

Throughts On Solitude

 

I look out of the window,

 

A snowy landscape unfurls before me.

 

The birch and lilacs trees are laden with snow,

 

The songbirds comes in twos and threes,

 

To pick the tid-bits hanging on the lilac branches.

 

There’s a serenity that is only disturbed

 

By birds doing turns to grab some seeds:

 

Sparrows, finches, blackbirds and a robin.

 

How playful they seem.

 

 

 

This is my art of solitude in daily life;

 

Away from agitating thoughts and chores to do.

 

Do I belong to myself or the world?

 

A Nepali song goes thus:

 

‘I tried to please everyone

 

And became myself estranged.

 

No one was mine.

 

I belonged to everyone.’

 

 

Solitude Is Happiness

 

I’m happy by myself

 

And go for a walk to a nearby forest.

 

There’s snow all around and I seek

 

And enjoy the solitude of the whiteness.

 

Forest bathing in white.

 

It’s a wonderful feeling and so serene.

 

A lovely state with Nature around you

 

Albeit covered with a mantle of white.

 

 

 

Just try to understand the natural world 

 

By looking and listening as you trudge forwards.

 

Up to the Camel Hill and down to the homestead 

 

On Pfeiffer Hill.

 

Beautiful pine and fir forests,

 

With eerie figures on wood, 

 

Sculptured by Thomas Rees. 

 

And in the distance the onion church towers 

 

Of St. Peter and Stegen,

 

And below you Kirchgarten and the Dreisam Valley.

 

 

 

In your solitude you can do a bit of soul searching.

 

You can grow during such walks,

 

Or sit in the woods or near a rivulet.

 

It brings you inner peace, tranquility and serenity.

 

Embrace and take this moment with you.

 

Treasure it and think about it back in the busy world.

 

Solitude is re-charging your battery,

 

Renewing yourself.

 

SATIS SHROFF