A Waiting Station Is Life
By Tarif Youssef Agha
From clay we were created, and to clay we return
Every one of us is waiting for his promised day
A waiting station for death is life
He surprises me, who spends it in running after wealth
And he who shows off, practices injustice and thinks he is better that others
Forgetting that his end will be laying under the ground
It is life; a train, stations and passengers
Every one is either descending or boarding
Every day marks a beginning to a person and an end to another
Every day there is a new name and a missing name
Everyone starts his journey being hugged by the arms
And ends it being seated in a wheelchair
Between this and that, nothing keeps him busier than multiplying and collecting money
His wealth and the number of children are always the witnesses of what he did
They will always be his most occupying interests forever
Only those, not others, will always be his targeted goals
Everything in life has a limit except
The human arrogance which I couldn’t find any limits for
He walks like a peacock and sits like a king
And forgets that his count of days has limits
He fills the world with egotism and greed
Instead of contentment and satisfaction
He forgets that he will be one day be asked
Why did he break the promises and dishonor the agreements?
***
A Poem translation
(Can be shared without permission)
By Tarif Youssef-Agha
An Expatriate Arab Syrian Writer & Poet
Wednesday December 31, 2014, Houston, Texas
http://sites.google.com/site/tarifspoetry