Philanthropy

 
(for All who bleed)
 
Alas the world is never right
beneath every boon there breathes a blight

a wan darkness wakes at noon
and night clouds oft beshroud the moon

and yet perforce we persevere
though hurt runs deep and price too dear

for it is our grim and mortal lot
to endure the gore grime and grot

as all things rush to fall apart
in letting go lies true art
 
*
 
So pause let it just fade away
we ourselves not here to stay

earth’s a half way house at best
we’re here for some unfathomed test

let them who think they know it all
take heed for they too shall fall
 
*
 
Not one in all eternity
has any clue as to why we be

nor where we go nor why we dwell
despite errant dreams of heaven and hell

for delusion is our mortal state
to dream of some blessed happy fate

even as living blood runs dry
too brave are we to break and cry

but it matters not what we believe
we come we bleed whence we leave

in ignorance are we brought here
in more ignorance we disappear
 
*
 
There is no obvious amnesty
no matter how very true we be

yet they that choose a righteous way
not ‘cause they must but ‘cause they may

though helpless hapless they too plod
in philanthropy rise higher than god

the venal in faith that live a fraud
know the former soar higher than god

 
[©R.Kanth 2023]

Professor Rajani Kanth, is Author of Coda (A Novel), A Day in the Life (Novel), Expiations (Verse), and Farewell to Modernism (Political Economy Tract).