Have you got a minute?

Have you got a second
to watch a raindrop hit the ground
and vanish into the thirsty earth?

Got a minute
to close your eyes, take a deep breath
and let the rising scent touch your soul?

And is it too long to wait
to see the mud soak,
a rivulet form and flow?

Have you got the time
to make a paper boat,
let it float, and watch it go,
perhaps nowhere

Do you care to watch the stars
or spare a moment for that moon?
Is it mad to run up the stairs,
to the terrace with a smile,
when there is a power cut?

Would you pull off the road to watch a sunset?
Would you walk slowly
feel a twig snap under your foot,
or watch a bug explore the edge of a leaf?

Won’t you worry if you are late to work?
Would you ever dare to explain
that you stopped on the way
to watch a tree in full bloom?

For fleeting moments of beauty,
trivial joys,
is your time too precious to spare?

Have you got a minute?
Do you care?

— rawjeev

I was cleaning my bookshelf this Dasara, and in an old notebook, I found the initial version of this poem, I had written back sometime around 2013. My reflections captured in this poem have shaped my life and continue to keep me living it the way I am.

Shikha, my daughter, helped me shape this version, with her valuable feedback of my readings.