The Ecstasy of Letter Writing + A Letter Was Received (Poems)

With the letters that I wrote 

I put heartfelt words in a quote 

Dear friends & family, near & dear

I hope these letters bring you good cheer

From stickers & cut-outs of magazines

I create art with ribbons in between

Folding it, I place it in an envelope,

Wishing this also helps you'll cope

I think of the journey this letter will take

Perhaps across streets, vehicles, seas & lakes

I scribble on the addresses

And forget all of my stresses

Finally, the stamp I then place

Thinking of the smile on your face

I take a long walk to the post office

Handing the letters, I am so glad that I'm delirious

Post Script: 

This was a unforeseen surprise I got few hours after I published and shared my initial poem. 

This poem written by one of my good friends, Rishabh Jaiswal, was inspired by the above poem that I wrote. These two poems are like two sides of a coin, in the way it highlights perspectives of the letter writer and the letter receiver, which I found so profound that I just needed to publish this as well. Like a sequel to my poem.

Following is the poem he wrote back to me: 

"A Letter was received"

By Rishabh Jaiswal

I received a letter, a friend wrote to me

And the words in it sent me in a state of glee

I had many things to do, but I didn't pay them heed

I left everything aside just to give it a read

O! the magic in her words, nothing could be better

The letter she wrote to me is about writing a letter.

Escape

-Written by Christalle Fernandes

Today, my English professor was talking about connotations attached to words, and the way the meaning of a word changes subtly in relation to every context. It made me think about one word in particular.

'Escape.' This word is always associated with an underlying negative meaning, like escape from something bad, something terrible, life-threatening etc. But there are times when I've wondered: What if I want to escape from all things good.

There are fleeting moments when I've allowed myself to consider this rather strange idea. Sometimes, even though things are running smoothly, and all's right with the world, I feel the need to escape.

To run away, to get away from it all. I suppose it has something to do with our very human limitations, the feeling of being 'tied' to this earth, and having to go through the routine motions of everyday life. Routine life just feels so mundane and stale sometimes, that I just feel like getting up and running away and going on an adventure and never looking back.

The very beauty of the earth itself makes me feel discouraged at times. That may sound strange, but hear me out. I look up and up into the blue expanse of the heavens, and then an irresistible urge to soar and fly comes over me. At these times especially, escape seems like it's just within my reach, but not quite. And that's frustrating.

To fly high up, away from the ground,

To soar into the blue expanse and never look down.

But familiarity, routine, is what keeps me- what keeps most of us- going. Unfamiliarity is like a strange fruit, you want to taste it, but hold back from fear of being poisoned. Inevitably, even though we might soar above the ground in our dreams- we find ourselves firmly brought back to the ground by the normalcy of our daily lives. Whether this is a good, or a bad thing, is a debatable issue.

Dreams are what lift us above mundane realities, no matter how unrealistic they might be. And so, if that's what helps you to escape, then so be it.

I wonder how it would feel to lose my identity

To wander nameless, faceless, alone and free,

Lose myself in the crowd of surging humanity,

Running away from it all- and from being me.