Live the Moment

a poem by Ananth Mani

Let me live this moment all by me
Destiny you need not count on me
Many a moment will live to speak for me
Destiny can you survive outside of me
Six decades have seamlessly slipped past
Realised of late there is no moment to pause
Arithmetic’s of survival is no more a craft
Emotional sensibility has a great part
Silver stubble, grey hairs and balding scalp
Reassures life giving systems are ticking along
To stay afloat there is a need for a strong craving
Time to reinvent and make a new beginning
No reason to grudge for turning a sexagenarian
Even on extreme slopes sun rose after moments of pain
Waters never got past the neck be it floods or rain
In pitch darkness emerged a ray of light offering a new reason
Looking through the prism of the past
I am no loser, yet I have no medals on my chest
Things have not really gone the way one would want
Nevertheless, there is enough to reminisce without a new want
In the shifting phase of time emerges new patterns
Larger mosaic creates a yearning for free expression
Inner voice commands to live and not just survive on
Time to redefine kinship, acquaintance, relation
At the crossroads of the fake me and the genuine me
Sought counsel from the friends to pick the real me
Without a pause old scoundrel got voted the truthful me
Ecstatic with new realisation it is the moment to revisit me
Seek nor ask consents, disrupt all norms of morality
Get under the skin, turn eccentric, wacky, wild and unholy
No more look for recognition, affluence or stability
Catch those fleeting magical moments racing past with rapidity
Get into the battle to unknot in the open the real self
Go beyond niceties masqueraded and sheltered as true identity
Lay bare all the greed, lust, deceit that operates the emotions
Bring upfront the insecurity, apprehensions that keeps me meek
Venture a scandal to embarrass the posterity
Relive every moment for seeking a new glory
Rekindle the old fire for incongruity, stupidity and being haughty
Run the race to at least once climb the podium of absurdity
Time to wade through the past corridors of infame
Dark holes of graffiti, cacophonous sound, setting stages on fire
Undeterred by onlookers resolutely trace the treaded paths
Enter the bare-chested half naked rooms to get the rebel unlocked
Resolutely emerged from the failed experience
Half-naked gurus and their yogic positions are no solution
It’s time to call off the creepy escapades for reincarnation
For not being a looser, there is no reason to be perilous
Destiny you are a scare crow
I look to you with respect yet short of fear
You have a long pause until I waver