Time

Awesome ruins of old, in crumbling decay,

Majestic monuments rendered to dust,

Some proud monarch, ruler of bygone days,

Built to pander to an immortal lust;

For who does not want his name to live on,

In hearts and minds of generations to come?

The entire earth he may have fought and won,

But what price achievement, it's all for nought!

Time, the great ravager, levels all things

With no regard for the monarchs of old;

It's only we, in our vanity, who think,

We can leave our marks behind when we go.

Look not at the ruins and see what is lost

but, glory in the present, and rejoice!

Dinesh Gopalan