Stillness Poem by martin conway

Stillness

You’re in a big black ball. The wall is made out of thick black jelly so that no light can get out and no light can get in.

The ball is floating in a huge sea of sweet, warm, golden liquid. Waves lap at the ball and it bobs and rolls. Inside the ball you are constantly moving, trying to stay on your feet. A thin layer of dust coats the inside wall of the ball so that every time you move you kick some dust into the atmosphere.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, you notice a pinprick of brilliant white light, which seems to come from the centre of the ball. No sooner do you see it then it is gone again, obscured by the dust that you are kicking up.

You try to slow down a bit so that the dust starts to settle and as you do the pinprick of brilliant white light starts to become more visible. So you slow down a bit more, you slow down and you slow down. You start to move with the ball as it bobs and the rolls. And the dust settles and the dust settles, and the light becomes brighter and brighter.

Soon you come to a point where the light is bright enough that for the first time you can see the inside of the ball. It is not very interesting and you are disappointed. At this point you are faced with an option. Either you can keep slowing down and try to see the light even more clearly or you can go back to how you had been before, staying upright and kicking up dust in the dark.

You decide to slow down further. You slow down and slow down. It’s becoming difficult now, but there is still dust in the air and you want to achieve perfect stillness. You slow down further and for a few moments you achieve perfect stillness, and the dust settles, and then you move and there’s still dust in the air. You concentrate again and achieve perfect stillness again. You stay still and the dust settles, you hold the stillness longer and the dust settles further.

The last few grains of dust settle. As the very last grain of dust settles and the pinprick of brilliant white light touches every surface of the black wall, the jelly melts and the pinprick of brilliant white light is absorbed into the beautiful, warm, sweet, honey like liquid making it brighter and making it more beautiful.