What Shesh Carries

"Who is that who groans?

That haunts very much

Those long painful moans!

Who could that be, oh, Sage?"

"That, is Shesh the serpent

The one who carries the Earth's load

On his thousand heads

It gets too much for him at times.

He groans ,

thanks to all the misery,

Loss, suffering, sadness, pain,

Pathos, sorrow, grief, melancholy,

Those many rivers of tears,

Loneliness , gloom, swallowed whimpers,

The bitterness that comes

As people refuse to let go,...

Oh, the whole list!

Come on, here's a demo".

"Me? I have two kids

No, three actually

One got away before he was born

Can't leave him out, can I?"

The co worker says and smiles,

No bitterness his eyes carry

The questioner now too stunned to

Say the customary "I am sorry"

They then get buried in

Reams of A- 1 size papers,

the questioner thankful to

the papers that hide filled up eyes.

"Get married! Isn't it time?

Give the Miss title a miss!"

They tease her, she smiles

Her eyes don't, what could be amiss?

Another one whispers

"She was married once

Her husband passed away soon after

Some illness their people

Found out about much later

She lives alone here

to get away from the

prying eyes and piercing words

of her own people.

Alone here, her eyes may not smile

But she need not shed tears."

The party ‘s sounds seem strange

The ice cream becomes sandpaper

The thought persists

Who knows what smiles could hide?

"And wise one, if this is what he gets

Day after day, year after year

What keeps Shesh still going?

What about all the collected wear and tear?"

"And that, beloved student

Is a question many should ask

Shesh exists, Shesh supports

Thanks to what cannot be measured.

Every time a small consciousness

Stumbles, but gets up on his feet

Every time the big consciousness says

"Shabaash!" and smiles

Every time one dries another's tears

Every time a human beats all odds

Every time a smile beats sadness

Every time human spirit turns the tide

Shesh feels much better,

He exhales and his groans subside.

That ‘s the secret of his strength

That's his secret tonic

That ‘s his reinforcement

That's what makes him tick

And, thus it has always been

This has been going on and on

This cycle of happenings

Since many many eons."

ns

Also posted in Sulekha.com