Haphazard Lives Poem by RONY PATRA

We are inhabitants of a fast, high-octane world
Which promises every possible comfort to all and sundry
But the brave new age which it has unfurled
Is rapidly destroying every tangible moral boundary

People are clinging on to their cellphones, hooked onto MP3 players
But they have scant time for even a simple conversation
The elderly detest this, but unheeded go their prayers
Which the young and swish are glued to the PlayStation

Social systems have disintegrated, taboos have faded into oblivion
Values have no place in the world of the 'possible'
Relationships are getting redrawn and redefined with alarming regularity
And then obliterated like an overheated crucible

Everybody is pursuing the elusive thing they consider 'happiness'
It could mean love, sex, money, power or fame
But happiness remains elusive, lives turn into a mess
Characters keep falling into the bottomless gorge of shame

Crime abounds in all its despicable versions
The cities have become vile and full of complexity
And psychological disorders make dangerous incursions
Lines have blurred between the unreal and reality

Everybody is on the move, chasing something or the other
But nobody has the time to enjoy life's simple pleasures
Which are always by their side, but they are too busy to bother
And thus their lives become knotty and full of fissures

Is this what the usherers of this world had dreamt of?
If it's so, then we should seriously introspect
About the way in which our consciences are getting switched off
And the way our tech-savvy world is getting devoid of respect