What If....? Poem by DEEPAK KUMAR PATTANAYAK

Asked not those questions
Would you like to be a fool for ever?
Or would you like to be a fool
For a minute, my dear
Questions we do ask people
But barely do we ask ourselves
It's a skill quite unknown
To stay for a while with questions

Rightly said David Whyte
About questions that have no right
To fly away to land of fairies
And in order to live fuller lives
Questions we must ask ourselves
To be more courageous
To be more generous
To be more fulfilled
To be more dedicated

Questions are often gifted
To us by our beloved poets
'Tell me, what is it you plan
To do with your one wild and precious life? '
Mary Oliver's poem so sweet
And elsewhere she knocks you out
With 'Listen- are you breathing
Just a little, and calling that a life? '
Or a line from Pablo Neruda stops us short
'Was it where they lost me that
I was able to find myself? '

And Shel Silverstein's playful piece
Of Zebra questions that animate
While light-hearted at one level
Deep and thought provoking at another
It goes: I asked the Zebra
Are you black with white stripes?
Or white with black stripes?
And the Zebra said to me
Are you good with bad habits?
Or are you bad with good habits?
Are you noisy with quiet times?
Or are you quiet with noisy times?
Are you happy with some sad days?
Or are you sad with some happy days?
Just by dwelling on these promptings
Can we open the door to the yearnings
That we carry within ourselves