This poem looks at how we slowly lose our identity, expectations, and attachments in life. It suggests that after loss, there is a deeper truth—a return to our true selves, where love, kindness, and truth are what truly matter.
A Mystery After Life
Not everything you carry
belongs to you.
Some of it is noise—
borrowed fears,
unfinished expectations,
names you tried to become.
You hold them close,
as if they will save you,
as if they will last forever.
But they don’t.
They loosen,
slowly… gently…
like autumn leaves
learning how to fall.
And then one day,
without warning,
you stand empty-handed—
not in loss,
but in release.
Because what you were holding
was never meant to stay.
Beyond this quiet unlearning,
beyond this silent shedding,
there lies a mystery—
not of endings,
but of return.
Where nothing you lost
truly leaves you,
and nothing you gained
defines you.
Only a soft presence remains—
the love you gave,
the truth you lived,
the kindness you left behind.
And in that stillness,
you finally understand…
life was never about holding on—
but about learning,
again and again,
how to let go
without losing your light.
Because in every release,
you were never diminished—
you were becoming infinite.
Yes, in the quiet art of letting go,
the soul remembers its true light.
(Vijay Verma)
www.retiredkalam.com
Categories: kavita
Retiredकलम 
very nice .
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So beautifully expressed Verma ji… the way you’ve shown letting go not as loss, but as a return to something true and pure, feels deeply comforting. There’s such a gentle flow in your words, yet they carry a quiet depth that stays with the reader.🤍✨
It really leaves behind a sense of calm reflection… a very soulful piece.🤍✨
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This is absolutely beautiful, Verma ji. ✨
“A Mystery After Life” reads not like a poem, but like a quiet knowing—the kind that arrives after years of carrying, only to realize that the weight was never ours to begin with. The imagery of autumn leaves learning how to fall, the gentle unlearning, the shift from loss to release… each line feels like a soft exhale.
What moved me most was the quiet revolution in the lines: “life was never about holding on— / but about learning, / again and again, / how to let go / without losing your light.”
That’s the deep truth here—that letting go isn’t diminishing, but a return. A becoming. You’ve turned what the world often sees as loss into a homecoming.
Thank you for sharing this tenderness, Verma ji. It stays with the reader long after the last line. 🙏
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That first line “Not everything you carry belongs to you” is incredibly powerful. A harsh reminder that nothing is this world is truly owned by us. Life continues, death comes, we must not hold tightly to material things, people, nostalgia, and emotion; even ourselves. Your poem is like a rod of discipline; important to carry in our hearts yet heavy. However, towards the end of your poem, you bring us in to a warm hug, reminding us that growth is possible! Thank you for your wisdom and your beautiful words!
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