Skiing

In the winter I go skiing.
I adore skiing, feeling the wind whistle past me
as I gain momentum.
I swerve constantly to avoid the trees.
Suddenly I’m falling
Falling,
                       Falling,
Down the smooth, slippery, slope, and
I somehow can’t grasp anything to pull myself back up

I lie there waiting for my sapped energy to return,
Darkness falls like a drab, heavy curtain,
Separating me from the rest of the world.
Shivering on the slope I regain my strength
and begin to descend down the mountain
where I stumble across a solitary
light in the barren land.

I approach cautiously, not believing my luck.
My mind whirled in confusion, why was I at the pearly gates?
Saint Peter turned and seemed to be expecting me.
“Hello Kevin, I have awaited your arrival for awhile.”
 I entered the gates,
Saw nothing that I had imagined in paradise.
Paradise!
A tropical island in the Caribbean,
But here I was stuck on a remote, desolate, island.
For eternity!
I was snapped out of my reverie
by someone shaking my shoulder.
I opened my eyes and gazed at a nurse.

- Karuna Saraswati

Back to Gallery