There lived a frog
in a tiny crevice
behind a giant waterfall.
And it was its first winter.
Its life, its dream, its every breath
and even its perception of time and silence
were painted on a canvas
with the thundering sound of water
as its background.
One winter night,
the water froze,
and with it, the sounds,
and abode of every living creature.
The frog cringed
as the engulfing silence took an ominous form:
terrifying and certain as death.
In such deafening presence,
the frog perceived the sound of freezing water
and for the first time,
its own heartbeat.
With every passing moment,
its heartbeat slowed down
petrifying the little creature in a state of trance.
From its crevice,
the frog stared at the full moon and the shining stars.
As it lay cocooned between the hands of time,
it listened to the Story of the Universe.
(Inspired from an anecdote, which is more like a thought experiment, in Thich Nhat Hanh’s book ‘Silence: The Power of Quiet in a World Full of Noise’)
