Today I put everything on hold
I baked veggies to make it quick?
instead of a complete meal?
of dal, gravy, rice, chapati
and I felt a sudden ease
as I indulge in looking at the melting cheese
slowly turning brown in microwave
I finally found twenty fifth hour of the day

I took a leisure stroll without a smart watch
instead of a compulsive brisk walk?
just to be present in the moment
and I found new meaning in the same old song
That touched a nerve, I didn't know ever existed

I called off meetings?
without making excuses or uttering
futile lies and I found ways to take?
a glimpse of my bucket list
that has outgrown my tiny fist?
unnoticed over the years

I didn't answer any calls today?
and I noticed?
the sweat of summer making its way?
down the spine through the waist
of my ancient body
still waiting to be praised

I put everything on hold
because the ticking of clock was beyond control
It has its own pace, own ways
emotionless and detached
I'm not a clock so I slow down
I need breaks
Slowing down, taking breaks are so underrated
Deal With It

You have two ways to?
deal with?dire disaster?
and wild waves of wicked weather?

Padlock the panes,?
draw the curtains
put the phone on flight mode
and firmly latch the door?
So the sunset won’t?
see you stain your pillow
Let no fleeting flow?
of oxygen sneak in
Let there be overthinking,?
Overwhelming you again and again
Until the looming wrenching pain?
kills you, destroys your senses
and you turn into?a bloodless mess
you become a mere relic of your own being

Other way is to
Unlatch the door,
Until you are drunk on?
vital elixir to the core
Until the callous candour?
pierces your bones
Fling yourself into the bed,?
be bare, brave and bold?
tell yourself to be a brash
Believe,?
this too shall pass!
BIO?

(Pragya Bajpai, Ph.D. is a Central Government Officer serving on the faculty of English at the prestigious National Defence Academy, Pune.Her debut book, A Potpourri of Proverbs,?a collection of poems based on 51 English proverbs was published in 2021. She has co-edited four anthologies;?Unkahi: The Unsung?(2021), The Force is With Us: An International Anthology Celebrating the Armed Forces?(2022) and Memoirs of Covid Warriors in Olive Green (2022), and fourth being an anthology of Hindi poems titled Dabe Paanv (2022) to her credit.)