Death and Life

Bodies after bodies were arriving
The last rites were being performed
The family and friends crowding around
The cheeks of women were watery
Glassy eyes, with mournful looks
An old lady was wailing
"Where will I go?
Will you not talk to me?
How can I live without you?"
After being anointed with oil
And prayers, unheard by the deaf
The keepers announce and the collapsible gates
Are opened; the body is placed on a cheap wooden
Raft like structure; the shutters move up
Revealing the red hot inside, like a dragon mouth
Wide open to swallow the body
Pushed in by the pulling of a lever
The mouth closes shut to burn 
The status is displayed electronically 
Engaged or Available for the next body
There are eight burners in a row
After an hour of burning to ashes
A part of it is delivered to the relatives
In an earthen pot to be floated
In the river Ganges beside
They are wizened to the reality of death
After seeing the inert bodies being burnt
The river flowing away to meet the sea
I return with a feeling of the meaninglessness
Of life and things deemed important
I got a feeling that one must live
To the fullest and love friends and relations
To be loved back. I ordered a cream roll
At the "Just Baked" shop, where I sat 
Sipping coffee and scribbling this piece
The buzz of conversation flows 
Into my consciousness. This is life.

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