Consequence Poem by Ravinder Kumar Soni

You have brought to me,
The mirror
With its clear glass silvered
And bordered in gold,
I shall recite the magic words,
To bring it alive
To show us our past
And the unknown future,
Unlike the ordinary ones
This mirror will not lie.
Let me look at my past,
There I am a well-dressed lad,
Off to college
When I was young, I smiled a lot,
I was proud of my appearance,
And hopeful of the future.
When I peeped into the future
I appeared very old and lifeless,
Friendless, alone and unhappy.
The mirror tells me
That Time which is supreme
Extracts its price,
Cuts short our lives;
Whatever we do, achieve or earn
Is meaningless,
Our ill-reputation or fame
Does not affect us after death,
Then perforce I ask -
Why do we live at all?