Zeitgeistlyrik: AUTUMN (Satis Shroff)

AUTUMN (Satis Shroff)

(Wooden sculpture by my friend Thomas Rees, Kappel)

Chilly Autumn arrives soon enough,
The summer flowers,
Those dear friends have gone.
Asters and chrysanthemums still greet us.

People celebrate the festival of lights,
In honour of Goddess Lakshmi.
Even the common crow is worshipped this day.
For the crow is the messenger of Death,
To the Hindus: Yamadoot.
Another day the dog is garlanded and revered,
For he is Bhairab’s steed.
The third day of Tihar belongs to the cow,
The reincarnation of Lakshmi.
If you beat a cow you might be punished
With a life in poverty.

Figures   beneath a fungus: sculptor , my friend Thomas Rees

The fruits are ripe now,
Waiting to be harvested.
The sun’s rays become mellow.
The leaves turn golden, russet, brown.
The paths are strewn with dead leaves.
We reflect about our own lives.
The dying leaves,
A metaphor of your short existence,
On this beautiful earth.

With splendor of Summer gone,
We become thoughtful and melancholic.
What has fate in store for us?
In this epoch of Kali Yuga,
Wealth has become the personification
Of success and career.
If the Gurkha survives he comes home,
With presents for his family.
Others remain cremated in foreign lands.
Nothing endures in the cycle of life.
We come, grow up, live our lives
And go.

Thereby making place for others.
Akin to the sunflower that ripens,
Provides shade and seeds,
Follows the whims of the sun,
And wilts.
Even green leaves die.

The wheel of life waits for no one,
O,  cry with me.