Karam Misra | + Follow Poet |
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Redemption

REDEMPTION
One day, when my time was done,
I flew to the place where it was always sun,
And before me lay a fine array
Of palaces and fields where laughter held sway.

As I made my way to the beckoning light,
I couldn’t but marvel at the wondrous sight.
Sweet song wafted on the salubrious air,
Sweet scent of every kind wafted everywhere.

I finally came upon a formidable wall,
All studded and mighty some  hundred feet tall.
I beheld a gate with carvings ornate,
With a scroll embedded  in golden agate.

Then came the writing like that on a screen,
Most luminous and enchanting, one never seen.
Then I heard a voice deep engulfing my mind,
Words set to music that’s beyond defined.

“You’ve chosen your calling, and lived out your life,
You’ve gone through some trouble, fair bit of strife;
But know ye, as you stand afore these portals
I gave thee free will, as I do all mortals.
How have you used it? just ponder awhile,
Be thy own judge, unencumbered by guile.”

I somberly stood, recalled how I’d lived,
How I troubled my brethren, how they had grieved. 
To win by all means, of deceit  I partook
Dissent  and difference I just couldn’t brook!

All thoughts and foul deeds flooded my mind,
I feared and wondered if redemption  I’d find.
For, alas, all my life, midst the sloth and the slack,
My deeds on the earth threw good to the back.

I fell on my knees, salt tears filled my eyes,
I summed up my life, which wasn’t that nice,
I trembled, I shook, wondered at my fate,
As I prostrated without hope at Heaven’s  Gate.

“Fear not,”said the voice, in a soothening  tone,
“All beings are same, you are not alone.
For each in his vanity does things he thinks right,
Succumbs to self-glory, gives up the good fight.

For to dare to do good is the harder path,
It’s easier to sin, covet more than one hath.
To err is too common, tis  the fate of your lot,
Few are the goodly, treacherous courses they plot.

So fear not my plaything, fear not my love,
The tears that you shed is repentance enough.
For you are my child, my beloved you are,
From temporal realms you’ve come quite afar.

For, Sinner and Saint will find succor in me,
The Saints find their Heaven on earth,  as you see,
The Sinner out here post his term out there,
On repenting his deeds, tastes Heaven’s  fare.”

I heaved a great sigh, the gates were opened wide -
I stepped into Heaven from the great divide!

~kcm

Copyright © Karam Misra | Year Posted 2022

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