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Split Second

by Shevaughn Pimenta
(Mumbai, India)

Mortality. Take a moment to think about that word.

Take a moment to notice the blood,
Sweat and pain broken on the backs of our people,
Only to be buried under the same soil they toiled on to achieve a day's worth of money in a month.

Even in the face of rewardless suffering, they never give up.
The little they get is enough.
Can I say the same about me?

Look out onto the horizon, In one concentrated glare and you will find that time suddenly slows down - for you.
Giving you a chance to change your fate.
In that second, you can perceive yourself to be anything.
You can be as old as you say you are - in that split second.

It is proof of an energy that exists far beyond human control.
It is proof that we are nothing but fleshy pieces on a chess board, being shifted around by the dexterous fingers of the universe.
With no real aim, a sort of synergy..

But somehow, I find myself stuck in that moment - so mesmerized by it.
As though I am caught in a trance.

These moments…these fleeting moments, they come unannounced.
Perhaps that's what makes it all the more inviting - the element of surprise.

I am afraid that if I move a muscle, time will align itself once again and I'll be thrown back into reality.

So I stay.
I breathe calmly and let it wash over me.
For however long it plans to.

And then I wait again - for that split second.