A wasted life

Drops of water come pouring down

My pain, I feel, makes the clouds weep

Helplessness slowly grows within

As I watch my life before me seep

The gloomy rain slowly falls outside

Even the ticking of the clock signals defeat

The day slowly draws near, I know

When my maker and I must finally meet

I dread not the physical suffering

The usual prelude to death

What I fear most is what would happen

After I’m deserted by my last breath

For I have lived a very long while

Yet in this time have accomplished naught

And there shall soon come a day

When my name, shall cease to evoke a thought

But within me I know, now is too late to lament

It’s only a matter of time before I’m gone

Then my remains will be buried 6 feet under

People will just say a prayer and move on

-Kartik Shastry

Tiller of Sand

Man is the tiller of sand

He sows that which shall never bear fruit

His whole life he toils

For his senses, believing he does so, for his own good

But the returns

Of his many endeavors, if any, never enough seem

And eternal joy

For him continues to remain a distant dream

All he does is breed

Misery and dissatisfaction for him and others around

Devising contraptions

Hoping that an everlasting cure for sorrow may someday be found

Yet so engaged is he in his pursuits

That he fails to see, unhappiness is a human creation

For bliss lies within oneself

It is to his heart man must turn if he truly seeks salvation

-Kartik Shastry

Loved Once And Lost Forever

Days, months, years have passed

Yet I wait for a sign from you

I live those moments everyday

Though they were but a few

They say hope never dies

I wasn’t sure until time forced us apart

For all I know, you’re gone forever

But we shall live on in my heart

Everybody knows how time flies

So I expect myself to be forgotten eventually

And someday another man will love you

But not love you as much as me

Ages hence a day will come when you’ll regret

All the pain you put me through

Yes that day will come when you realize

That my love for you indeed is true

However then making amends

Would be harder done than said

For when such a day ever comes

I shall either be married or be long dead

-Kartik Shastry

A Sleepless Night

On a night as dark

As the blackest of seas

At an ungodly hour

When the whole world sleeps

I lie awake all alone in bed

My restless mind counting seconds to first light

Finally unable to sleep I don my coat

And emerge onto the dimly lit street

But surprised I am to spot a figure

Not far from where I be

I say to myself “after all I’m not alone”

“There are bound to be others as restless as me”

I start walking towards the lonely figure

Hoping my plight the stranger may understand

Close enough, I realize it’s a woman

She sees me and whispers “20$ for a one night stand”

- Kartik Shastry

A Typical Day

8 A.M. in the morning

The alarm clock blares to life

Still half asleep

I shuffle out of bed

Up to where it sits screaming

I take a good look at the time

Class won’t start till 9

I resolutely, shut it off

And climb back into bed

Promising myself to be up in 15

My slumber abruptly ends

And I gape across the room

At the clock which

Now shows half past 9

Seeming to smugly convey to me

‘I told you so”

Springing onto my feet

As though bitten by a bee on my bottom

I rush to the washroom for a quick bath

But somebody’s already inside

Singing away to glory or so he thinks

Finally he emerges from within at 10

With an air of satisfaction

Which gives one the impression

That he’s had a bath

For the first time

In at least a couple of hundred years

I enter and am out in a jiffy

And rush back to my room

Getting dressed as quickly as I can

I head to where my transportation awaits

Halfway to the garage I realize

That my keys are absent

Already half past 10

I rush back and another 5 go by

Before I finally manage

To lay my hands on them

On my way to the garage again

Something still looks amiss

And I return to my room once again

To gather my head gear, cursing

A quarter to 11

I reach my vehicle

Don the helmet and

Somehow manage to bring to life

The old junk I call a bike

On my way to college I begin to muse

Repentant at the dismal state of affairs

I finally gather enough courage

And promise myself to put my life in order

Once and for all from this moment hence

I finally reach my destination

Park and enter

The proverbial hallowed ground

Of my apparently esteemed institution

But am fairly perplexed

Not to find a single soul around

Except a stray dog basking in the sun

Who seems equally puzzled to see me

And suddenly I realize

“O shit! It’s a Sunday!”

-Kartik Shastry