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.