The Cage Within

The Cage Within
I was jailed for a very long time
I passed my days by remembering
Brilliant views of the sky when I was free to fly
Or by revisiting the thrill and the pleasure I often felt
When I was in my familial forest habitat
But mostly my time was consumed
With the bitter aroma of memories
That seemed to be part of my feathers
Right since my childhood days
I agonized at the world’s unfair treatment meted out to me
And I felt anger when I realized my sufferings
Were not caused by what I did
Nor was it caused by who I was
But by others and external events I had no control over
I managed to sooth my self-inflicted wounds
(Wounds was my only way to externalize my pain)
With the ointment of compassion and self-love
But that was too infrequent to make me feel better
My desperate search for normalcy
And my own place and identity in life
Seemed to lead me to a place
Where I felt like a worthless incognito
More than anything else
I realized my soul had become a prisoner
Of my own neural network
In which the firing and misfiring neurons
Led me on the same path of conclusions full of miseries
I was powerless against the feeling of powerlessness
Is there something that can change all this?
It took me a long time indeed
To realize that neither immeasurable success
Nor incredible accomplishments
Had the power to unshackle me
One day, I crossed a bridge
Where the conscious meets the subconscious
Darkness holds a summit with light
And the abstract merges with the concrete
I ran into a cave that seemed like
Embodiment of wisdom of the prior ages
The monks had managed to hide and protect
The statues and sculptures inside
From the onslaught of senseless extremism
A deep sound with the thunder of clouds said
“I know why you are here, my son”
The deep voice continued:
What happened before and what lies ahead
Are small things compared to what lies within us.
To be happy, you need to be oblivious
Only to two things, which are
How others have wronged you and secondly
What good you did for others!
The power lies within you, my child!
It is only you who can unlock it.
I opened the lock of inertia
On my cage and I set myself free
After opening the gate of forgiveness.
I cannot forget but I can forgive!
I take full responsibility for my own detention
Now my pain is in a state of permanent remission
It is only a memory that does not bother me anymore
It remains only as a memory and I happily live with my past
That I was jailed for a very long time!