The Last Laugh
K. Radhakumar *
The bird is caged day and night.
It sleeps at night
And wakes at dawn.
The dawn today is no different
From the dawn of yesterdays.
How it wishes to wake to a different dawn
Wake to a different dawn
A different dawn...
Today is no different from yesterday.
It hardly stands
But goes up and down the perch
Up and down the perch
Up and down.
It is airy out.
It has a dream
To fly in the sky
And look at the greenery below
Where the yellow marigolds are out.
What lies beyond
What lies so near and yet so far -
This is not a figment of its imagination.
It is real.
This reality and a dream called life
These are one and the same.
The bird sees no way out.
A four-year degree course and a job
Marriage and children
Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Breakfast, lunch and dinner
There is no way out,
No way out.
It has no time to sit on the perch,
Up and down it goes
Up and down it goes
It is nearly sunset.
The sunset other than the daily sunset!
The caged bird thinks
Death will be sweeter than life.
It sees itself as one of the uninitiated
Who sleep in the comfort of the anti-theatre
Before the curtain falls.
* Poem written by K. Radhakumar which was published at The Sangai Express
This poem was webcasted on August 26, 2018.
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