Basking in the embellishing glory of the sun,
My palette jeweled with colors more than one.
A canvas once blank now filled pastel,
My dear Andrew ripping the waves like a fierce rebel.    
Beneath lay enticing mermaids like beacons in the shallows,
Caged above lie the slaves known only by the screams of their shadows.
Under a dim lamp, lies a weakened young chap writing a letter of hope,
While the captain casts the north star alongside a rustic telescope.
The fellow crew members fixated with an iron gaze of jealousy,
This painting was just meant to be the last of my legacy.
But with a step back - nothing was as it seems – perhaps a hoax ,
Those colors lifted, that ship sailed, those very sailors spoke .
Ruins of the past had been summoned from the smoke .
Every element unveiled a memoir of life ,
Humanity’s evolution through stress and strife .
My intent was just a wooden mast sailing cross the seas ,
But now it is the tale of the universe from the dawn of its first breeze.
 
The enhancing mermaids hidden in this obscure azure cloud,
A mere source of amusement for the sailor’s crowd .
They remind me of the fate, the suffering of every female before us, 
Whose identity, destiny, education was an unnecessary fuss .
They hid behind those cowardice men ,
Every inch of their pain disguised through the tip of a pen.
Yet today they stand proud, brave, and tall ,
No need to bend their knees before us and forever crawl .
Yet today they fight wars, save the world not only in fiction,
Their very dignity no longer a subject of crucifixion .
No field, no battle, no fight out of their authority ,
Whether strong, bold, or tough their persona no longer scarred by conformity.
 
The slaves imprisoned in darkness because of their skin ,
Remind me of the past where our very color was a grave sin ,
The minorities who were poisoned by racism – colorism,
Their identity stolen because their faces did not glow like a prism.
Enslaved by their kings as mere servants - pawns ,
Their freedom of expressions carelessly robbed every new dawn ,
Yet today, they protest – they are a voice of hope,
No longer under the fear of hanging by the rope.
They film movies, they paint masterpieces, they embody peace ,
Their choice, their voice more prized than the golden fleece ,
They will stand till inferiority is erased from every institution ,
They, the army of color, will be the force that brings the revolution ,
Once chained, made to bow down, a tragedy with misery swollen ,
Their grit and ambition no longer ended like a loop with a semicolon.
 
The captain uses his hand to find his trusty companion, the north star,
The daunting skies playing an ominous tune like the strings of a guitar,
This reminds me of humanities quests in space ,
Their fascination , imagination once an open and shut case .
There was a time we knew not of the shape of the earth,
The galaxy around, the sun, the moon, the universe’s birth,
The seas and land our sole territory and the star a burdened force,
But then we made the choice to turn mystery to our course.
Today we stand victorious in this trek,
We visited the moon without a sign of shipwreck,
We launched satellite at the red planet ,
ISRO, NASA all with a mission etched in granite,
We took goldilocks story and found the goldilocks zone,
Into the fabric of society these mysteries have been sewn ,
Today as we venture of “we ask are we alone? “,
I guess we will only know when we find a new home.
 
The young man’s veiny hand penning his ambitions ,
Reminds me of communication’s premonitions ,
There was a time feathers pink and pitch blank ink were galore ,
When hopeless pigeons carried our loved one’s letters ashore ,
When word of mouth was our bread and butter, a necessity of society’s concrete,
Tear ridden mothers uncertain about their brave son’s heartbeat,
Doctors unaware of the poison about to plague life,
Yet today with one click the world is in their hands like a bloody knife !
Social media - twitter – Instagram – WhatsApp buzz every night ,
Every moment, every phrase forever sealed in a byte,
Where gravity’s apple replaced more worthy than silver shields ,
Where the windows of a car surely worth greater than all the football fields ,
Influencers, youtubers have conquered the world,
In a click your greatest secrets unfurled,
A tool so strong yet so fragile,
Letters under the dim light a forgotten pastime .
 
The strokes of auburn , the echoing lies on its wood,
The barrels of oak , it’s symbolic hood,
Tell the tails of the thousands that built this beauty,
Cursed by this sense of utmost duty,
Their blood , sweat and tears aching under the scorching sun,
The blisters in their palms ache like the shot of a gun!
Yet today this could be done with half that effort,
In just a matter of seconds we could create a desert,
Robots living inside our cars,
Satellites travelling to the stars,
AI controls the internet,
ML has captured healthcare , business like a fishing net,
It can remove the shards of plastic from our heart,
They can change industries , make humanities crisis restart,
Artificial intelligence has amassed a wealth so great,
We only wish they aren’t a part of a nasty bait.
 
The eerie coal churning in the blazing fire,
Enveloped in this smoky attire,
Remind of the industrial Revolution,
When coal , oil , natural gas was our constitution.
The sky amputated by our merciless emissions,
Yet the world ignored this as mere traditions,
But today climate change isn’t a a toy doll,
It is the sole cause of humanities fall,
The heavenly elements wind fire water air,
Are what we offer the the world as our prayer.
Solar panels capture the sun , turbines drawn to the breeze so free ,
Himalayas’ create hydroelectricity , while biofuel unveils the hidden key,
Renewable and sustainable is our new soul,
Clean energy forever is now our goal.

The look of pure envy hides the sailors mask,
The ruthless cannons bound by a gruesome task,
Remind me of colonization , dictatorship , exploitation,
Worldwide wars , enmity known as our sole occupation,
Races eliminated , helpless slums , desperate for aid,
Greed , violence , corruption , a daily trade.
Yet today the champions and underdogs stand united,
From vaccines to financial aid nothing left uninvited,
Our leaders meet at SDG summits , the United Nations,
To guarantee peace , justice and security for the future generations,
Perhaps jealousy , impatience and competition persist,
But the future of mankind’s unity is like bangles around our wrist.
 
This midnight sail echoes the stereotypes that have evolved,
Fixed mindsets, beauty standards, which were once unresolved,
When princesses were damsels in distress, blonde and fair,
Their whole life waiting for a prince charming to save them despair,
An age when superheroes could not be Hispanic or Asian,
Where every character was fixed in trait, color, religion .
Yet today we see change in fiction - fantasy – poetry and penmanship ,
Literature a playground for everyone’s leadership,
Our literary idols, fictional legends a true representation for society,
Characters untouched by personality checklists or lack of variety,
There was a time when television was but a reflection of prejudice,
But today it breaks free and its very past its nemesis !
 
The world has been remade, renewed without any doubt,
My unknown intuition, intentions stand testament to this sprout,
Humankind has for most led an optimistic innovation ,
Yet hidden in history are blackholes hidden in our generation ,
The hole in the ozone rages with a mighty wrath,
Unlike the trivial bonfires in the caveman’s path .
Civilization was so simple – once plucking blades of grass ,
Yet today competition, anxiety is stronger than brass ,
The claws of our mind, the bloodshed of our inner voice ,
There was a time when hunting together, sharing was a hobby we would rejoice ,
Yet today competition, the fear of other’s success drives the world ,
Jealousy, hatred, such a fire can make evil intentions uncurled ,
Our every whisper, every footprint locked in a box ,
Cancel culture, cyber bullying more virulent and slyer than a fox .
Weaponization, nuclear bombardment poisons our souls,
Cyber bullying, cancel culture plague our poles  ,
Social stratification erased yet desperate aid from others are unwanted goals,
Interdependence between neighbors we hope there are not any moles,
Hunger – thirst no longer mean poverty, famine, drought,
But pave the way for power’s route ,
In the olden days medieval or Neolithic life cleaned of mystery ,
But as the threads intertwine life’s tales unveils curses greater than history .
 
Rest assured, change has been enforced ,
From ancient to medieval to modern ages this fact only reinforced,
From woolly mammoths to the land between the two rivers ,
From the bronze warriors, the Elizabethan swords to the industrial’s shivers .
Minorities have found the light at the end of the tunnel ,
World peace no longer compromised through a filter funnel ,
Cannot distinguish between humans and a deep fake,
A word can march from the artic to Australia without a break ,
The air bender like the almighty symbol of trust ,
The galaxy erased of its century long rust ,
The world has met new holes and concealed past ones,
It is the forever evolving balance of the universe’s prodigal sons .
 
Change is the only constant in this seesaw,
The future a mere black and white gamble we saw ,
The world remade through blood, sweat and tears ,
From hope, faith, and mysterious fears ,
Mother earth like a sapling emerges like a gentle lion ,
Whether flowers will blossom, fruits cherish dependent on a shot from Orion.
Where the seeds will venture thus forth lie unknown,
All I can do is finish my canvas and watch my ship’s throne,
There was a time when that beauty would forever be in our eyes,
Yet today its holy mast are its lays goodbyes ,
Every new wave a mighty breeze blows away ,
A whole new coat of blue and grey .
All we can do is let the ship sale, discover its frothy trail,
And let destiny’s deafening silence reveal its effervescent age old tale,