(Was broadcast on AIR, Yuva vani Hyderabad on 23.3.78)
Turn thy sparkling eyes on me,
Let me behold them
Before mine grow misty.
Sing thy song while thou canst,
For my heart may
Forget its poetry.
Laugh!
While my mirth is
still free of satire.
Play thy harp
And let its music
Sink deep into my soul.
Who knows if again
Thy melodies might reach it.
Give me thy gift of joy,
before cold reason
holds it back.
Live! Live and bloom
In every moment
The sand in the hour-glass
Runs low.
Hold me, O beauty,
Hold me!
In thy enchanted spell,
And let me not
Lose sight of thee
In the teeming ugliness
Of human existence.
Peace may give way
To kindness,
Simple joy
To cruel wisdom,
Innocence
To subtle irony.
Nothing is forever.
Life leads on to life,
Now entwined,
Now flying apart –
An immense,
Intricate network,
Woven by the hands of destiny.
Whimsical,
Unconquerable,
Destiny!