LAST CURTAIN

Last Curtain

I know that the day will come
when my sight of this earth shall be lost,
and life will take its leave in silence,
drawing the last curtain over my eyes.

Yet stars will watch at night,
and morning rise as before,
and hours heave like sea waves casting up pleasures and pains.

When I think of this end of my moments,
the barrier of the moments breaks
and I see by the light of death
thy world with its careless treasures.
Rare is its lowliest seat,
rare is its meanest of lives.

Things that I longed for in vain
and things that I got
—let them pass.
Let me but truly possess
the things that I ever spurned
and overlooked.

© Rabindranath Tagore

***

as the stars above
wander about midnight sky –
death still calls to me

as the stars above
inevitably collide
darkly shadows lurk

wander about midnight sky –
disgruntled ghosts
risen from ocean bed

death still calls to me
gently and persistently –
lifelong companion

haiku/troiku

Response to Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #52 Tagore’s “Last Curtain”