The Celestial Toss Poem by Subhojit Kar

The Almighty, in his present-day avatar,
unable to decide on modern human fate,
took a coin and tossed it high
outside Heaven's Gate.

When the coin finally landed,
perhaps, a trifle too late,
gasping in horror,
even the Divine Lord screamed 'Hell! '

For lo! by some hellish trick,
by, who else, but The Devil,
the coin showed 'Machine'
in place of 'Head'
and 'Beast' on the side of 'Tail'

So, God, in order to save his name,
put the stamp of 'Religion'
on both sides of the coin
so that when machines get tired
of their artificial intelligence
and beasts are satiated
with their hunting games
of animal indulgence,
they can pray to God
and seek their salvation.

Suddenly, the Supreme Creator
remembered something He had missed,
for He realized that He had
left no space
for mankind's creative instincts

So, on the thin rim,
He, somehow, scrawled the word 'Art';
part of the ink
trickled to the two faces
and became ugly blots- -
those blots are the marks
of Pop-and-Pulp,
the Fake Art
which the copycats make
to cater to the escapist demands
of the Beast-Machine taste

For, True Art remains hanging
precariously at the edge
(walking on razor's edge,
never-ending darkness,
waiting forever on the precipice- -
all part of the deal)
and can only shed silent tears
at the misfortune of human bondage

For the world is changing
in the blink of an eye
craving for the instant high
coveting flashy things
high on fad and low on taste

But that's only to be expected
in a world full of
beastly machines or mechanical beasts.

Oh God, could you ever guess
that the outcome of your toss
could be such a heartbreaking loss?