Existence of Sand

Whenever I go to a beach
I see ocean water and waves
both transverse and longitudinal
coming and going
swaggering up and down,
but not the sand
on which I stand or walk leisurely…

Waves never stop
teasing and kissing sand
that in turn hugs my toes
but I quickly brush it off and
it embraces corals to its chest…

Sand remains there
and keeps moving slowly
in rhythm with frantic waves
winds play with it to form dunes
as if it has no existence for itself…

But it sacrifices its own existence
for the existence of
humanity, history and heritage
by getting subsumed
in the magnificent buildings,
temples, mosques and churches
to find a place of importance
from Sahara to Arabia 
despite being neglected,
for telling stories selflessly…

When I hold it in my palm,
it slips through like time
whispering something very important
that we all tend to ignore
and keep challenging its existence
building castles of the same sand…

–Kaushal Kishore

images: pinterest