It was dusk before I knew it,
Fading lights and scenes around me
A crick in the neck brought me back
To earth from the sky well above me.

I had only gone to the terrace
To be soothed by the afternoon caress
Of mellowed sunlight and balmy breeze
When the swing gently swayed, the lure of a knowing tease.

The sky beckoned next
Or was it the whisper of the trees?
Could’ve been the birds singing overhead
Or the clouds that were turning pink.

I knew not where to look
It was everywhere my eyes wanted to be,
Thought it wiser to fall into a dream
Where my mind could see all as it ran free.

The lull didn’t last long, for my heart woke me up
“Watch,” I was told, “It’s the moon”, for it had also woken up.
One half of silvery beauty, other still asleep
Never has it been so radiant, with the sun still vivid.

The luminescence haunted me
As did the bottomless vault it lit
I couldn’t fathom the reverence it educed
Yet I was snug in the comfort of it.

Tomorrow I shall bring my brushes and paint
My canvas with the canvas of nature as my muse
Brilliant greens kindling a changing sky
While I wait on the swing for the stars to arrive.

(Photograph captured in Leh, Ladakh, India, a place abound with surreal landscapes.)