The Light House Keeper
‘No Man Is an Island’, said John Donne
To begin with I wasn’t one…
Merely a grain of an idea
In an ocean of conformity
Till time bound the grains together
Behold! …there was a mound.
I stood my ground
With every churning in the ocean…
With every storm withstood
With every going against the norm
That screamed, “Return to dock!”
Those infinitesimal grains
Formed a rock, rising
Above that sea of conformity.
Now the island ‘s formed
But storms like apparitions
Appear out of nowhere
Wrecking boats and ships
Wrestling against
The currents of conformity.
I’d remain an island
Only If I didn’t respond
To your distress calls –
Drowned out in the din -
Unheard in the commotion of conformity.
So, on that island rock
A light house I built!
Now, I’m a light house keeper
With rays of hope the darkness filled
Reaching out to boats and ships
Surviving the savage storm
They’ve christened, Conformity.
If you see me from the shore
Sans the strength to swim
Out to sea
I’ve sent you this message in a bottle
I threw out to thee.
You’re the SS Endurance…
Follow the light you see
Life on the rocks is, always merrier
The more the company.
©2020 Ranjan Kamath
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