The Gift of Nothing — A Poem for You

Everyday, give yourself 
the gift of nothing.
A little bit of nothing
goes a long way.

Then every week,
an hour of nothing
or one day of nothing
to recharge you for everything.

Then once in a month
go elsewhere to have 
a big slice of nothing.
Share it with the lake or the moon,
offer it to a stressed out friend.

In a quarter then, 
from a little gem
your nothing would have grown
into a big sphere 
that you can sit in.

A few days of nothing
is a healing chamber.

To absolve yourself of old crimes
to involve yourself in new crimes.
The crime of wanting to be more
than the man next to a conveyor belt.
The crime of wanting to be more
than a woman correcting exam papers.

In today’s world it is a crime
caring for deeper, hungrier parts of you.
In today’s world, the gift of nothing 
feeds you more than food.
Takes you 
to the day before your birth,
the hour before sunrise
the moment before the big bang.

---

Dear reader,

I wrote this poem on the morning of 31st December, 2024. Early morning, it arrived, when I was brushing my teeth. Like a one-page summary of what I’ve subconsciously learned through the year.

It brought the gift of nothing. It was my therapist who wanted to give me this gift. My partner too. But poems know the code to install truth deep into our nervous system. And so we let them.

Do you need the gift of nothing as much as me? Will you pass it on to others who need some nothing?

Thank you.

Love,

Raju

Join me and

Vimal Chitra

to strum our everyday lives for the rhythmic poetry and stories hiding in play sight. The Rhythm of our Stories , presented by

Natasha Badhwar

at

Ochre Sky Stories

is an adventure in the emotional, creative, and musical energy of words.