There Lived a Frog

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’)