Poetry - Wheels of Time: Destiny Beckons

 

Wheels of Time: Destiny Beckons

Enjoy while there is still time

Make merry, have fun

Meet up with old friends

Sing the songs you love 

Bask in the morning sun

Soak in the evenings  

 

The world is changing 

Coming alive to claim its rightful place 

Unable to bear the load of people seeking comfort 

At the cost of nature, of life 

 

Enjoy while there is still time 

Make merry, have fun

 

Life will not be the same, things will go wrong

Structures will fall apart

A new house built, taking down the old

 

The curse of those who have suffered

Sighs of those who have lost

Tears of those whose lives are shattered 

Are waiting to bear fruit 

 

The flowers that could not bloom

Trees that left early

Forests that perished 

Birds that no longer sing

Animals that lost their homes 

Their prayers are being heard

Those who have eyes

Are seeing the signs unfold

Those who have ears

Can hear the cry of the earth

Feel the silence before the storm

 

They dread what is coming 

The wheel of destiny has begun to roll  

 

One remembers the times past

Krishna atop the Chariot; Arjuna cringing 

The task is daunting, result is doom

Pyrrhic victory but yet, the war was fought 

The world became empty

Society crumbled, the light went out 

Darkness descended 

 

The war was inevitable 

Mad with greed, love for power

Unwilling to accede, ego at its best 

Heroes perished 

The bugles of war silenced 

 

Such is the outcome when duties are forgotten

Compassion lost, justice denied

The powerful rule, the people suffer 

 

The war is coming

A greater canvas this time

Unseen magnitude 

Events ripping open the bowels of the earth 

Like a coiled snake striking at the core of untruth 

Destroying everything that shrouds the goodness within

 

The wheels are turning 

The whirlpool of destiny dragging the unwilling 

Into the deep waters of unpredictable events 

 

The earth wakes up to claim its dues 

It happens all the time 

The lessons are forgotten

Destiny beckons 

The mighty have to be humbled again

 

Enjoy while there is still time 

It is not your fault 

The players at work 

They deceive, they destroy 

Distort whatever is good 

Extol the virtues of perversion 

Lies dominate, the truth hides 

 

Why does it have to be so?

Why do we participate?

Why do we invoke the wrath?

Why the wars?

Why the disasters?

Why the pain?

 

Enjoy while there is still time 

The few years left, let them be your best 

Forget the enmity 

Let love triumph

You are not what you seem

Look within to find the child 

The innocence that is you 

 

The earth is waking to escape its death 

It tolerates a lot 

It bears all the pain 

It has to live to continue the game 

 

Souls seek liberation

Consciousness has to find its way

Enough of play 

Forgotten responsibilities 

Ignored teachings, faded paths strive to emerge 

From the eerie shadows of time

 

The change is upon us

One cycle has ended 

The other is at the door

 

Destiny is at work 

It knows what to do

The powerful humbled 

The earth claims its due 

Who can stop the writing on the wall?

 

Jagannath Chatterjee