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Shahriar Shahriari |
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Poems - Soul Journey - Group 5
Fate
If you are on the trail
To find the Holy Grail
You live in your own jail
And are condemned to fail
Cause it’s hidden behind the veil.Instead the winds of silence sail
Whether you’re strong or frail
Winds of active service hail
To the minutest detail
This is the Grail Trail Tale.© Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
October 3, 1998
You say you want to feel free to speak your mind
Even if what you say I find unfair and unkind
You don’t want a censor, a gag, or another bind
yet you don’t want me to respond in kind.So to control my chatterbox
What most communications blocks
I shut the door and turn the locks
Of my chatterbox, won’t respond to knocks.Whenever I have the courage not to fear
The messages that silence brings to ear
Then of useless chatter I stay clear
And truly listen such that I’ll hear.I still need not like what you say
Though I may not try to change your way
Yet in this exchange and this interplay
You keep on talking, lest you sway.Sometimes I want to tell you to just shut up
You admire silence, yet talk non-stop
You’ve filled to the brim my ear’s cup
To clean the mess I need to use a mop.Silent, peace, just be still
And you will find it takes some skill
To see the light, but not until
Chatter of your box muffle or kill.© Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
September 21, 1998
In battle if a bullet bears your name
You can be sure, just the same
No matter who you may blame
You’ll go down, or up in flame.And you can be sure that in life’s game
If it is your time that fortune and fame
Destiny’s hardships and challenges tame
All it takes is one smile from Luck’s dame.We structure our life, give it frame
Arrogant, self-praising, without shame
Pointedly focus upon our selfish aim
Yet by fate made impotent, helpless, lame.© Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
October 10, 1998
I didn’t put on my shirt, must be fate
To move around half-naked, is my state
Perhaps with grace of God, sooner or late
A shirt will be put on me, if only I wait.Perhaps God may even drop it on my lap
But I must pick up the shirt, myself wrap
If I accept my flaws as fate’s map
Irresponsibly fall in karma’s trap.Life’s purpose is my flaws understand
Against my karmic flaws take a stand
Full awareness of myself must demand
With my highest truth my life command.© Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
September 21, 1998
I saw the truth, not just to lie
I came to life, not just to die
Detachment, for sometime, I try
Then reattachment sanctify.
If I’m to live, only to die
God’s work, I can’t justify;
If life’s purpose need satisfy
Must live in truth, before dead lie.Thus I detach, unbind the tie
Reattach before uttering last cry.© Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
August 15, 1998
What is life but a sailing ship in forward motion
Self-directed, succeeding and failing at the mercy of the ocean
Overcast skies or sunshine, calm waters seem to be the norm
Yet out of nowhere, appears a dreadful raging storm;
Like a twig going up and down with the monstrous waves
For calm waters, every captain in his right mind craves
Yet if the ocean were all calm waters, smooth sailing
The monotony of the journey becomes worse than failing.
The purpose of life is not to have the ocean calmly behave
It is to be alert and alive, zestfully riding the wave.
The big question each one asks is why are we alive
Are we free to sail, or in the ocean of destiny survive?
Freedom or destiny? The Holy Grail behind the locks!
Which one is the key? Or is it yet another paradox?Dogmatic fatalist freedom scorns, destiny hails
His sailing ship is rudderless, yet all sails;
Pragmatic materialist rudder in hand, also fails
His sail-less ship will not be propelled, not even by gales.In the tyranny of life, each ship must leave its berth
And sale the ocean of life, traverse the earth.
To not set sail is like refusing to be born
The first storm that hits the shore, the ship will be torn.The best way to face the storms of life one must
Face the rage of the waves amidst the ocean with trust;
And in times of steady wind and calm waters, with full sail
The ship goes through the waters, blazing its trail.
And whether the ship is wrecked in a storm or reaches the distant shore
Matters some, but to sail with intent courage matters even more.
The freedom to choose the destination, and courage to face the waves of fate
Is to live the paradox of life, the destiny of the great.© Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
December 12, 1997
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