Paths to Relevance

I

What is it to be somebody in this world?

I ask the dawn, as shadows fade,

Under the gaze of silent stars,

Where echoes sleep in ancestral winds.

II

Desire, a restless river, flows

Through countless hearts it winds and bends,

Seeking the ocean’s open arms,

The whispering sands of acknowledgment.

III

We kindle fires on distant hills,

Build towers reaching toward the sun,

Dance beneath the moon’s pale gaze,

Hungry for a fleeting glance.

IV

We play in the world’s vast arena,

Perform our fujo, then depart.

Like mist that lifts with morning light,

We vanish into memory’s haze.

V

Some thunder loud like storm-swept skies,

Others move as silent rain,

Sowing seeds in fertile darkness,

Far from the glaring eye of day.

VI

I have wandered crossroads seeking,

In temples, schools, and market squares,

Chasing mirages of affirmation,

A thirst no well could ever quell.

VII

Why did I choose the writer’s path,

The ink-stained road less traveled by?

Was it the lure of shining lights,

Or truly for the quest of truth?

VIII

A quiet voice within me stirs,

Chiding choices left undone

Why abandon crafted words,

The stories waiting to be born?

IX

This hunger for relevance consumes,

It dims the glow of creativity,

Leaves projects strewn like fallen leaves,

Their potential lost to winds.

X

Dreams of service softly call,

Echoes of a higher path.

To heal, to build, to sow anew,

Without the need for worldly praise.

XI

Populism wears a hollow mask,

A siren’s song of empty fame.

They rally crowds with clanging gongs,

Disturbing peace for spectacle.

XII

Let me not be a disturber of peace,

But a weaver of harmony’s thread,

Trapped no more in restless dreams,

XIII

I seek release from desire’s snare.

Grant me freedom to create,

Unburdened by the weight of self,

To innovate with open hands,

Expecting nothing in return.

XIV

The quest for relevance I release,

A shadow cast behind the sun.

I’ll walk the path where wisdom leads,

Content to be unseen, unheard.

XV

In landscapes where knowledge is the key,

I’ll plant my roots and watch them grow,

Embracing now this quiet world,

And trusting all else will follow.