What started as a random conversation with a friend went deeper and suddenly became more meaningful! Here it goes-
Rock and Riverbank
“If you were a landscape,” she asked one day,
“What would you be?” I thought, then answered with a steady voice,
“I’d be a rock, A big, ancient one on a hill far away, A sentinel of time and stillness.”
“People would gather at my base, Resting in my shadow.
Some would climb to sit upon me, Carving their desires and dreams, Etching names of loves long gone, Leaving traces of fleeting lives.”
“In the past, they might have worshipped me, Crowned me with rituals, Called me a god, a sacred stone.
In the future, they’ll declare me heritage, Preserve me, display me to the world, But still, I’d remain, A dry, hard, and lone rock.”
“Sounds like you,” she softly said.
“And you?” I asked.
“I would be a riverbank,”
she replied,
“Myself a shifting landscape, Seasonal, never quite the same.
In my embrace, different souls Would find their solace through changing times.”
“Under the fury of floods, I may drown, swept away, But I’d emerge anew,
Rejuvenated by the surge, Not as steadfast as a beach, Nor as salty, But softer, more inviting.”
“Life would flourish on my shores, A dance of forms in vibrant harmony,
A sanctuary of multiplicity, More beautiful in all its diversity.”
“Sounds like you,” I whispered,
As the river flowed between us, And the rock stood still.
– Byomkesh Mishra (2024)