Lead Kindly Light
written by: Dilip Mohapatra
(Homecoming amidst the encircling gloom)
I am not the same as the moth
that follows the flame to its death
but with a soul that always
seeks the light
flashing from a desolate lighthouse
beyond the sands and shrubs
on some distant shore
while lost and adrift in an unending sea
under the blanket of the night
that has swallowed the sunset
leaving only a thin line
with a feeble glow
along the distant horizon.
Sometimes I feel an unseen ray
a sliver of light burnishing my limbs
and sometimes I glimpse
an aurora borealis
that appears as lightning
to disappear the next moment
yet the Polaris never betrays me
shining steadfastly in its magnificence
seeing all other stars encircling it
while I ride the merry-go-round
following the comet’s tails.
Then my compass steadies
the needle pointing inwards
and as I follow it
I find the latent light inside me
ensconced within layers of darkness
and no longer I wander about
like a musk deer.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
With apologies to John Henry Newman
- Lead Kindly Light - May 2, 2026
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