MAN IS BORN TO MAKE, NOT MAR, OTHERS’ DAYS!

MAN IS BORN TO MAKE, NOT MAR, OTHERS’ DAYS!

In the sordid and suffocating Sojourn of my life’s battered bivouac,

I have ever been at the mercy of misfortune like a Japanese Quake,

Under the constant threat of an unexpectedly calamitous quiver;

Who knows when the disastrous jolt will again compel me to shiver?

Yes, I have been compelled to smile with a million fake Façades,

Though I have been shaken and slashed mercilessly for four odd decades!

I have been using the Balms of Divine Grace on my bleeding hurts hidden,

That have been torturing and tormenting under my thick, tolerant Rhino’s skin!

But, opening up the ever raw, fresh wounds for public Pity won’t serve to heal them,

That will only attract an unwelcome, unwholesome and universal Shame,

That will too contribute to making me an easily reachable and conquerable Game,

Adding again more lubricants of wretchedness, to my ever seething adversity Flame!

Still, let me never think in life to shake anyone’s happiness like a Japanese quake,

For, man is born to make, not to mar, others’ days, for his own perishable gain’s sake!

Glossary:

Sojourn - a short stay/halt

Bivouac - an open temporary shelter for soldiers

Façades - faces/appearances

Slashed - slices

Seething - boiling

Make others’ days – make others happy

• ©Shankar D Mishra, 23.04.2018