I have my house and a big car,
And plots of land running in to many acres,
Do I own a single thing on this earth?
But I am drowned in the sea of arrogant mirth.
Traveling back many thousands of years,
Nothing was mine and nothing was yours,
Whatever existed on earth was yet to be discovered,
And whatever discovered was yet to be possessed.
Adam possessed and passed over to Tom,
Tom sold to Sam and Sam to one madam,
Passing millions of persons and ‘owners’,
In that process, it’s rights I took over.
I am the owner of something that does not belongs to me,
I vehemently fight for the right to my territory,
Yelling with arrogant authority that all these are mine,
But it is not mine or yours, but of Nature divine.
My pretension of ownership is nothing but illusion,
In my self centered illusion, I forgot my origin,
I belong to this planet called earth,
But earth does not belongs to me, that’s the bitter truth.
Nothing belongs to me and nothing I will take with me,
When my final day comes, I will mingle with debris,
Nothing will follow and be of use to my ashes,
Will I remember where my cash is?
© K. Radhakrishnan
The author triumphantly addresses contemporary society’s existential concerns with an inimitable acerbic wit that will delight the discerning reader.
A profound, insightful poem.
A deep poem emphasising the evanescence of everything