An Idiot Poem by BASAB CHAUDHURI

I see statements made by eminent people:
Do they say what they really say?
Do they say from conviction?
Do they say what they should?
Or these are all for the moment?

I feel - and my feelings may be flawed --
an intelligent man assesses and says,
a statement comes out of assessment
of a prevalent situation.
No statement has an absolute value.

Often a sense works in me --
I am an idiot -- yes, an idiot.
Before I say, I think --
and if I state, I stick to it.
Am I then an idiot
and at the same time obstinate?

No intelligent man regrets his statement;
I do.
Reflections on a statement brings truth up,
subtle truth makes me smaller,
an idiot.

I feel --
only a few statements are meant for eternity,
and all others are made for utility.
A man in search of eternity lacks maturity --
of the present.

At the end what is proved beyond doubt?
An idiot can't live in the present,
he can't live in the future --
for ever he is doomed.