The need for originality of thought and action
More desperately  imperative now than, perhaps, ever before
As we seem embroiled in “more of the same” disasters,
Hunger, starvation, greed, lust, wars
All, in the name of great progress
In how quickly we can reach levels of worldly satiety
In all spheres of our lives.

How soon can I fly out or fly in,
How long before we settle on the moon
As we, vaingloriously, reach out for space
In Space
As if, the Earth is not sufficient  for all of us
We go looking for the Moon, the Stars
And other heavenly bodies,
No fears now of Aliens
No talk of them either, simply because
That, is what we have become ourselves,
Robots.
Off now to Mars, we hear
To go discover if ancient life existed there
And, what will this achieve
If, for example, we come across evidences
To support their existence.

Billions spent, lives put at risk
To determine who was their five
Or ten thousand years ago and now
Sadly, extinct.

How bereft today is Man of
Commonsense?
Wonder, why it’s even called that.

So, engrossed is he with material progress
That, all achievement is being measured
By GDP which
The man with ordinary, common sense
Does not comprehend,
No wonder the need for greater Meditation,
Trust deficit, taken in the stride
But, fiscal deficit, whatever that means to the
World’s wizards of finance,
Intolerable.

Ancient life, surely, was better
More peaceful, more camaraderie
Happier people,
The happiness index at its peak.

Maybe, after all the cynicism,
The trip to Mars would come in handy.
Maybe we will learn and imbibe
How our forefathers lived, and
Happily departed.
Maybe,

(The author is a prolific poet who has over 30 poetry books to his credit. He can be reached at ashoksawhny06@gmail.com/ www.ashoksawhny.com)