Birth is uncertain.
But death?
That is a certainity
It’s the only reality.
So simple to understand
Yet, so hard to believe.
People tread through the path of life;
some lead,
some live,
And some give.
Some sacrifice their life,
While some others take it.
Some save lives,
Some on the other hand,
crawl with the tides of time,
awaiting,
for death to knock at their door
Wait for death to take them to the searing world beyond.
When the day arrives-
dooms day,
It seems just like another day of life.
But all of a sudden,
You are caught off guard.
The doom knell of death strikes,
Stops your life in it’s track-
You cannot move any further.
The howl of a single phrase in front of you -“IT’S TIME”.
The mind-
moments ago was tranquil,
Now ravages into delirium and insanity.
A brutal hurricane of emotions sets in,
It wears you down
from within.
From birth to death,
All moments flash before your eye
Each little memory,
a picture in time.
The first cry on entering this world,
The first word you spoke;
The first kiss and hug from parents
The first crawl which marked a milestone.
The unfiltered joy when your dad made you sit on his shoulder,
the absolute comfort and safety of mother’s lap.
First defeat, first victory and first prize.
The endless quarrel with siblings as time passes by.
The day you met your first friend,
The first punishment of your life.
The day you graduated,
The day you were rejected,
And the day when the same person finally agreed to wear your ring.
The moment when you said
I love you to your life partner for the first time.
The feeling of satisfaction after achieving something you worked for,
The first time you receive your hard earned salary.
The first kick of your still unborn child,
or hearing it’s cry for the first time.
The first time you are called mom or dad.
And so goes the list.
Amidst these warm feelings,
You feel light of happiness start to fade away.
The cold dark never-ending
ice;
The burning coldness of grief,
The shattering storm of sorrow sets in.
It makes you see.
See the things that were always around,
But never noticed.
The love, left unrequited,
The tears, for which you never cared.
The attention,
which you never provided,
The sorry
that you never exchanged.
The thanks,
that you left unsaid
The little mistakes,
that you could have easily forgiven,
but alas, you never did.
The emotions,
burried within the depth of your heart, gone unexpressed.
The wall of ego and enemity, Once raised,
But never lowered again;
Hindering all the warm feelings
that could have been.
These insights,
They choke your soul;
A pain most excruciating is felt.
The dagger of regret,
piercing your heart,
Melts even,
the toughest of those
stone cold memories.
Blink of an eye;
The carpet of repentance wraps your soul.
A symbol of ultimate realisation
so intense,
that you cry out your deeds!
Echoing far and vast,
You beg!
You cry!
You plead!
You will to do anything!
What you want, is your mortal life.
One last time,
To do or not do,
The things you wish you had not and had done.
But the only thing you hear-
“IT’S TOO LATE”
Brutally freeing yourself from
the shackles of emotions-
the heaviness of agony and pain,
the bondage of love,
the cage of care and concern,
the enslavement of ego and enemity,
You look back one last time.
Only one single thought, a single hope-
Your dear ones don’t make the same mistakes as you.
And then you realise
It was upto you to decide,
Whether you wanted to be remembered
for something of your own,
In the hearts of your beloved ones;
Leaving behind irreplaceable footprints,
along the shores of time.
Or to be nothing,
in this never ending tale of time.
-Likhith Kumar K (salvatores 2019)
THE LADY 