An Unusual Trail Poem by chandra Mohan Bhandari

Hiking along the Appalachian Trail
Overlooking the Hudson at a distance
Mountain ranges all along the valley
Witness the river embrace the ocean.
Looking back - a turbulent history of the region,
I wonder at the changing scenario -
As it conceived in time a new paradigm
Suddenly I begin to move
Along two parallel trails,
Covering the dual canvas
Of time and space -
Three thousand years back
I move along the Himalayas
On way to Indus and Gangetic plains
Defining an era in passage of time
An experiment delving deep into human mind
Culminates in poetic outpourings of unusual kind.

Now I move on a trail along the Hudson
Yet another experiment in modern version
A liberal outlook, justice and freedom,
A new defining era of enlightened mind.

The two trails in different space and time
merge in four-dimensional space-time
From the Himalayas to the Hudson
streams of reason coming to a confluence
a new signature on the canvas of time.

Standing on the summit heading North
I wait for fresh breath and look back
The miles I have covered
Then I look forward and assess
Miles to cover before I find
The confluence –
Origin of Himpalachian Trail,
Invisible yet slowly taking shape
In deep recesses of every mind.