Poetry : La Demeure

 

        La Demeure

("The Dwelling" or "The Abode.")

He built a mansion with all his might,

Regardless of the poor man's plight.

The soul then left the body’s cage,

To its heavenly abode,

In peace with itself,

To its  final place

The man lay there, a lifeless form,

While round him grieving kin did swarm.

Within his palatial house,

On his own grand premises.

His wife was weeping,

And so was his daughter,

Tears trickling down

Their anguished faces.

They waited  eagerly for the  final funeral rites,

As the son was coming from  far of land

The body started smelling,

They were worried for the cremation;

As his flesh was decaying,

Polluting the mansion

Which he had built.

                        - Pankaj Mala Bhattacharya