There’s a motel, its place I cannot know,
Where guests arrive and then guests go.
Were they invited? The answer’s no—
Day in, day out, this ebb and flow.

When guests come bearing anger, hate,
Can I eject them? No one’s at the gate!
Their shadows cast a murky weight,
Within gloomy halls of a sinister state.

When guests arrive, all happy and bright,
They paint the rooms with radiance and light.
Life then feels in perfect flight,
With joy, kindness, and pure delight.

The mind’s this motel, now I see,
Where thoughts intrude unbidden, free.
To welcome guests who boost my nest,
Motel needs to be at its sparkling best.

Let compassion and equanimity grow,
And through meditation arrivals will slow.
Then calmness and tranquillity will glow,
At this motel, in a place I cannot know.

⁃ Niranjan Selvadurai