A Poetic Duet: While Sleep Is the Best Meditation, Writing Is the Best Medication
My students have to take turns writing in a class journal. Below is the first poem I have encountered in amazement:
“Sleep is the Best Meditation” — Dalai Lama
The morning
Was cold and raining
I sat down
And started sleeping
Suddenly
The teacher was talking
Then I saw
What I was dreading
On my desk
Rested my exam score of Mandarin
I could feel
My eyes started flooding
I could hear
My pride shattering
I felt like
My energy is draining
So again
I started sleeping
I woke up and found out
The podium has been occupied by another teacher
He wrote in an indecipherable language
But everyone else knew the answer
I tried to decode the symbols
But it turned out to be a failure
However, I was not surprised
Since it has been this way since September
Then we had a class about the stars and galaxies
And constellations created by linking stars with each other
Soon the beauty of the stars hypnotized me
And I lost conscious before the teacher finished the chapter
The following class we trained
For becoming a mighty carpenter
To free the beauty within the piece of wood
We had to think beyond the border
Time fled quickly as my stomach protested
So I fed it well in order to ease its anger
Ten minutes past noon I attended a meeting
That was held at a table in a remote chamber
Then the three of us left halfway through
And ran to participate in the practice of school choir
I got back and prepared for the afternoon
Only to discover I’m extremely tired
So again I slept with the teachers’ voices echoing
And this time I lost control and slept a little longer
The day is almost over
And I’m finally awake
I took the last two classes
And didn’t sleep for God’s sake
Though I may have trouble in learning
But at last my life’s not at stake
I can still sleep like a Snorlax
In every single day!
In excitement I replied to him with the following poem:
Writing Is the Best Medication
Yesterday so surprised was I
At your questions going wild
Thinking beyond the box’s right
With your eyes gleaming and bright
This morning at office I arrived
Missing your class journal to read
Anticipating what you’d write
“DITTO” I can’t help but out cry
Poetry I like
Not seek and hide
But minds alike
Feel alongside
At noon SC meeting took place
Three classes in a row like a race
Without food to digest I prayed
That I could make it through with grace
At last in the dark of the night
All the hustle and bustle subside
Listening to the wounded pride
Writing to you I abide by
Your words as a gift I received
With all my heart and soul I see
The best meditation is sleep
The best medication is dreams.
