Happy Times

By G.R. Nanda

I was born to light

Ignited by familial warmth

Everything seemed alright

But hidden there was a fright

It was DEATH

The evil wretch

He had me dangling by a rope

And the farther I can grope

Up the rope, the more it shortens itself

Death cackles with his hoarse voice

Up from his abysmal and dark hole

But it’s easy to ignore 

Life gets busy

For ever changing is my role

A son, a student, a lover, a worker, a father

I can vacation to far lands

I see magnificent sights

But deep down I know that not all is right

The rope is shorter

He cackles again

It’s much louder than before

And I’m close enough to the hole

To see DEATH’S fiery red eyes

I now realize that I’ve bought into all the lies

Life’s a joke

It has no meaning

I’m just another poor bloke

Another nothing

Destined to become nothing

In that dark and abyssmal hole

So I wait around

I grow old, get wrinkled, get fat

DEATH laughs right in my face

He grabs for me from his hole

And swallows me whole