Dibya Tripathi

“The Layers

I have walked through many lives,
some of them my own,
and I am not who I was,
though some principle of being
abides, from which I struggle
not to stray.
When I look behind,
as I am compelled to look
before I can gather strength
to proceed on my journey,
I see the milestones dwindling
toward the horizon
and the slow fires trailing
from the abandoned camp-sites,
over which scavenger angels
wheel on heavy wings.
Oh, I have made myself a tribe
out of my true affections,
and my tribe is scattered!
How shall the heart be reconciled
to its feast of losses?
In a rising wind
the manic dust of my friends,
those who fell along the way,
bitterly stings my face.
Yet I turn, I turn,
exulting somewhat,
with my will intact to go
wherever I need to go,
and every stone on the road
precious to me.
In my darkest night,
when the moon was covered
and I roamed through wreckage,
a nimbus-clouded voice
directed me:
“Live in the layers,
not on the litter.”
Though I lack the art
to decipher it,
no doubt the next chapter
in my book of transformations
is already written.
I am not done with my changes.”
― Stanley Kunitz, The Collected Poems

“Msichana wa miaka 18 miaka ya 70 ni sawa na msichana wa miaka 8 leo. Msichana wa miaka 8 leo anayajua maisha kuliko msichana wa miaka 18 miaka ya 70. Tuwape watoto wetu haki yao ya msingi ya kuwa watoto katika siku za ujana wao, kabla hawajawa watoto tena watakapokuwa wakubwa.”
― Enock Maregesi

“Change is not a four letter word...but often your reaction to it is!”
― Jeffrey Gitomer, The Little Book of Leadership: The 12.5 Strengths of Responsible, Reliable, Remarkable Leaders That Create Results, Rewards, and Resilience