Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Existentialism - Mark V. Vanlalrema

Better be dumped six feet under
Than proclaim, “life’s a series of sorrow”;
For if pessimism gains its power,
Conditions your every shot of arrow,
Yours is a life devoid of blood.

Narrow’s the road the wise men take,
No cakewalk; Life’s a struggle to the end;
For if optimism loses faith,
No lessons from history does it rant,
Ours is a life worth no giving.

Wasn’t today filled with gay?
Didn’t you say, with bright fervour, “Bring it on”?
For if nihilism drove home “nay”,
Concealed your garland with a scorn,
Yours is a life dearth of conscience.

I have toiled through thick and thin,
Done homework- Life’s a passage to eternity;
For when my patriotism glows my skin,
Award me wholesome for temerity,
Heaven’s my life playing harp.



Mark V.Vanlalrema is currently doing his MA in English at the Mizoram University. This poem appeared in the 2006 - 07 issue of the Pachhunga University College magazine.

2 comments:

  1. That's the right spirit, Mark. It's so easy to fall into the dumps with what's happening all around.The positive note needs to be ever encouraged.

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  2. Yeah ,i wrote this little piece, as a reaction to and a substitute for what a college student, a lady from AIzawl North College, wrote in the college magazine. Reading through her piece made made me so sick because of the pessimistic take on life, and i just wanted her and many others too weak to see the light at the end of tunnel that, life goes on no regardless of our bleaky or enthusiastic approach to it, and we'd be a whole lot better off if we don't complain but try to find beauty and joy in every situation.

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