Sealed With Fatigue And Rest Poem by Bernedita Rosinha Pinto

Nothing changes nature's phenomena
the sunrise, the sunset, the moonlight
the winter, the summer, the autumn, the spring
everything keeps happening as it should;
only man keeps re-adjusting his strategies
to the presentations and situations that keep recurring.
man behaves like a novice though over the years
he has gone thro' the same struggles and weather
since his childhood without much bickering.

Yet conditions and confrontations play a pivotal role
when life and death poses a challenge so inexplicable
that man keeps rushing to help others survive:
when a woman is giving birth to a child
or when an old man is demising after a good time on earth
man is always the one who extends concern and sympathy
when others are helpless or feeling so lonely.

Yet man never refrains from searching justice for himself
and seeks equality in everything he visualizes:
from the food he eats as an omnivore
from the water he drinks to quench his thirst
he keeps wading thro' the ponds of rights and equality,
until he acquires what he thinks he deserves so as to preserve it
or until he feels he has reached the end of his quest
by indulging in convincing others that he is the righteous.

And though everything has its own splendor and intrigue,
what is man's worthiness when he walks upon that bridge
of time and uncertainty on either end,
only to find himself gasping for breath
when he has achieved success and fulfillment of his dreams
while his hair kept turning grey and life kept losing its zeal?

And, as comes time to leave this world,
on the other side of the field stand his enemies
smiling, laughing, enjoying themselves
hardly realizing that they themselves will also someday perish
and everything will remain back on this earth
for others to plunder and prey, for others to defy and dare,
for others to engage in tugs of war and love
for others to engage in battles of wit and vengeance.

And while the phenomena of nature will keep swiveling,
seasons will keep changing, the ocean will keep rolling,
the world will be silently summoning new generations
to enjoy its vexing and promising splendor
so filled with love and hate, so filled with jealousy and bait
so filled with competition and rivalry,
so filled with glories and victories,
so filled with joys and sorrows
so sealed with fatigue and eternal rest, eventually.