Lesson From The Birds

Rajendra Shalabh

When stress deepens

and was hard to bear,
I started laughing.
The anxiety-shied away

I learnt the therapy of laughing in anxiety
from the birds.
When I laughed out of stress,
the greenery inside me
shined on my face with the smile.

I plucked the flower of happiness
from the jungle of thorns
and planted it
between the curls of the sad sky.

The crying lips
smiled with my shrewdness.
Darkness shied away
from the rising dawn
just like my anxiety
that flew away with my laughter.

Translated by: Sneha Sharma

(Courtesy: Himalayan Soul)