If Only!

If only we could count the stars!

We would have been able to describe the sky.

If only we could see where the staircase leads to!

We would just run to the terrace.

If only the clouds depicted one certain form!

But then, that is just a matter of our perception.

Damn it. We cannot count the stars. Even with our best technologies, we can only present an estimate. We cannot count the million tiny things that make our life. They just make a beautiful picture when you look at the whole of it. Some stars dying, some falling down, others coming to life, some at their peak. Their individual stories might not be comprehendible, but the whole picture somehow makes sense...

When I was a little girl, who had recently found about the literary devices used in literature, I devised one metaphor to pacify me.  Our path is an intricately carved staircase, and there is a lot of fog, so that it impairs our vision. We have nothing but a limited field of view. So we cannot see the whole thing, don’t know about the twists and turns that are going to pop up. But we can see the next step, that much is visible. We can only keep moving, savouring the designs on the present railing. Slowly and steadily we move ahead. Had the whole thing been visible, we would have just  rushed along to the top, and THEN, the void would have hit us. The whole purpose of climbing was to take it all in, we would have sadly realized.

That cloud I see as a tiger might look like Santa to you. Who is to tell? Who knows it for sure?