The twin stars twinkled...
‘And they lived happily ever after.’
No, the world’s not a fairy-tale, dear.
Pockmarked the moon, pockmarked the ground lies;
A little fog and the sun dies;
Whispers the blossom and clouds depart;
The untamed vine grows without art.
How soon sway the moods of season!
Whither goes the spring for ten months?
But isn't life likewise?
Happiness just an episode...
Well, well. But the glass is half-full as well.
Why, the sapling pierces a chilled earth,
Winter over and life animates with mirth.
It’s never the same, and a new day would start,
And the gardener with scissors creates his own art.
So why fear when we stand at land’s end-
Just the two of us?
We need only turn back!
-19/9/00, Calcutta-63
COMMENTS :
The poem concerns the eternal dilemma of
whether to consider the glass as half full or half empty. The
journey of a thousand mile starts but with a single step. Single
drops fill the pitcher and the ocean. This attitude looks at what
has already been attained. On the other hand the Chinese coolie
thinks of the height that’s still to be traversed, rather than
elates over the already traversed. Here the stress is on what is
still to be gained. What is the right attitude? Aren’t both
right in their own way? Should I not feel elated that I have once
held my beloved? Or should I lament over the fact that my love is
still unconsummated? Optimism helps, but it is not always there to
rescue. At times of rejection, pessimism is a solace. But still,
the former attitude helps make life a lot more meaningful:
The petty done, the undone vast!
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