As this night
moved towards dawn
And I
heard rain splattering on the window
I
remembered that man from 100 years ago
Every morning
he walked on the streets of London
And
thought of all the heartbreaks he stored within
Lovers
and friends, all had betrayed
Some
for money, others for pleasure
A
clerk, he earned a little
Just
enough for some bread and a bottle
Factories
soared all around him
And
tall buildings had gone taller
As this night
moved towards dawn
And I
heard rain splattering on the window
I
remembered that man from 100 years ago
Sitting in the chair he felt the nausea
As he watched
the men in his office
Wildly chasing the day around him
Is
this the advent of a new man?
The
kind who thinks, multiplies but not feel?
Or the
man was and has been
The fly
that swirled in the garden
Thrust
into an indifferent cosmos
As this night moved towards dawn
And I
heard rain splattering on the window
I
remembered that man from 100 years ago
Evening
came and he walked home
Climbed three floors and thought some more
Another
day entirely insignificant
Was
his living a point at all?
When Mother
had long gone
And wife
had deserted for a richer man
Even
the birds that used to sit at the parapet
Had
migrated to a happier land
What
was there was nowhere
All
around just desolation and despair
As this night moved towards dawn
And I
heard rain splattering on the window
I
remembered that man from 100 years ago
The
night had fallen
And he
had drank more than his usual
What
was and is and shall be
Thought
he who is and pledged not to be
This end is an end, better than the beginning
For
what started only stagnated
The decision was made and not in haste
All that remained was the final play
As this night moved towards dawn
And I
heard rain splattering on the window
I
remembered that man from 100 years ago
In a moment’s worth he was at the terrace
Desires and difficulties all had disappeared
God and Devil had dissolved in his soul
And no questions now remained
Stuttering he finally reached and climbed the
edge
The last two breaths were not a complete waste
For the cold wind had now wrapped his face
Startled and scared I woke up with a shriek
With a pounding heart and sweat covered face
What I could have brushed as a mere nightmare
Struck me with horror as I rushed to the mirror
A hundred years had just condensed
Face of the man or the man with the face
As the night had reached the dawn
And sun rays had pierced the window
I thought of myself in the present
Heaven and hell, joys and sorrows
Nights and days, springs and falls
This one beautiful life has it all!
(Painting- Wanderer above the sea of fog by Caspar David Friedrich, 1818)