Disaster Poem by Ratnakar Rout

We were together for some time
He was a good friend but a bad family man
He had his own rules in life. Thus,
did not care to take up anyone's advice
As a result, developed many bad habits in the long run
And his vices got him trapped now and then
Neither his wife nor children could persuade him
to give up his undesirable habits
All efforts of near and dear ones went in vain
to dissuade him from wrong doings
Day by day the situation went out of control
Eventually the unwanted that was to happen
as the consequence of the misdeeds happened
He was declared bankrupt by his bankers
The sudden blow of this unanticipated occurrence shattered him
He became emotionally devastated and suffered a massive brain stroke
And ultimately succumbed to that fatal mishap
His bereaved family members had no words to mourn the untimely demise
On the other hand they all were cursing their fate
As no alternate source of livelihood was available at hand
They worriedly started looking immediately for a makeshift dwelling place
I witnessed as a mute spectator to all such incidents
those so fast happened to the family of an errant friend
Who was so reckless in life and never careful
The misfortune that befell distressed the family entirely
could have been eschewed effectively with self restraint
and self realisation of only one man
That has been perturbing me again and again since then.