Stranger Are The Worldly Ways Poem by Amar Agarwala

We now live amidst strange days
And stranger are the worldly ways;
For even though the birds tweet
When dawn colours the crimson skies,
Cicadas hum their orchestra
The very moment darkness lies,
Water lilies fragrantly bloom
While a silvery twilight plies,
Feel call of nature gets dimmer
For I hear not the blue jays,
All seasons seem a trifle lost
Meandering along their pathways;
The mist now doubtfully tumbles
Down barren and rocky cays;
Perhaps they too know now
And it's so hard to say how,
That we now live amidst strange days
And stranger are the worldly ways.

I yet find moonlight sneaking through
The glass upon my window pane,
The heat and dust driving me
And the denizens insane,
The drumming of a rainy night
Across my darkened winding lane,
But no weary traveller sits awhile
Under the Banyan shade,
No harried housemaid sings a tune
While dinner is being laid,
I hark no watchmen calling out
When the night is dark and staid,
Perhaps they too know now
And it's so hard to say how,
That we now live amidst strange days
And stranger are the worldly ways.

My neighbours smile and I smile back
And jaded greetings are exchanged,
Lo marriages are often held
Yet, surprisingly arranged,
The madhouses getting fuller
With mentally deranged,
But, I hear not like I once did
On Sunday afternoons,
Children hollering across the lanes
To be called - buffoons,
Nor do I see the old-timers
Shyly carrying their spittoons,
Perhaps they too know now
And it's so hard to say how,
That we now live amidst strange days
And stranger are the worldly ways.

The radio yet belts it out
With a raunchy number or two,
Boys and girls get busier
With each other to woo,
I still find people yet hurry on
When they visit the loo,
Yet, laughter seems pretended
For they are dry and thin,
Greetings are per functionary
They flow not from within,
None willing to lose a deal
For everyone wants to win,
Perhaps they too know now
And it's so hard to say how,
That we now live amidst strange days
And stranger are the worldly ways.

Gods yet listen when mortals pray,
Herds of cattle wander and stray,
Dark clouds paint the skies grey,
Men often each other betray,
But I do hark old-timers' say -
That we now live amidst strange days
And stranger are the worldly ways.

Strange will ever be worldly ways
A game of thrones which heaven plays
With subtle traps Almighty lays
That human life in pain essays...
First blossoms and then decays
No happiness nor sorrows stays,
And nothing but eternity stays,
And nothing but eternity stays.
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