How I Live: A Précis

By Shelly Debbarma

to remind myself of my smallness and the vastness that i

live in, live within;

to remember that there are things that are important

than what i find troubling in the flow of timestream;

to be aware that the universe is always greater than i-

// when you look out into infinity, you realise that there

are more important things than what people do all day. //

but one sees

that one cannot constantly live in awareness of that

and that humans tend to forget most of the time.

remembering is an acquired feat.

and the dexterity must be honed.

id est

elephants can remember, we are not elephants.

and so i

relentlessly/defeatedly

tread on

to make sense of being.

to feel the validation of your self;

to be a speck and yet matter, feel to matter

if only to ourselves;

because within this vastness, we have to live with our

selves on the ground firmly planting our feet;

// look at the stars

look how they shine for you

and everything you do //

the astral within the cosmos,

the cosmos itself-

such a nectar, such an anodyne

to this soul

living and unliving

both.

By Shelly Debbarma