Life
Life is a ship, heading north,
With people coming, back and forth.
You get on solely, to be off.
You get off surely, dead in a bough.
Life is a book, of pleasure and pain.
The pages are bright, and are vain.
Every page has, its own story.
Ending in failure, or in wondrous glory.
Life is a race, testing us.
Everyone runs, as he likes.
If you can’t persist, and go on,
You are lost and, are forlorn.
Life is a line, of waiting people.
But of your turn, you know little.
Were *Alexander’s hands bare.
Nothing belongs, to you here.
Salahaddin* is gone, and is *Richard,
Not taking from thence, any orchard.
The wars they led, are forgotten,
And their bodies, are long rotten.
Life is a river, flowing fast.
No one escapes, at long last.
The death to come, in the end,
Takes you sibling, to its bed.
Life is a fact that, that we die.
You are mortal, don’t deny.
The wrinkles on your face, won’t belie
The end of your journey, say goodbye……
Dilnur Yuldashev
*Alexander—the great Alexander Macedonian.
He asked people to bury him with his bare hands sticking out of the coffin.
He tried to voice that even a king like him leaves this world with nothing.
*Salahaddin—a leader of Muslims during Crusades.
He is revered in both Muslim and Christian worlds.
*Richard—the king of England and a leader of Crusades.
He is known as Richard the Lionhearted.
I wrote this poem in 2011, while I still was in English as a Second Language School at UT Austin. This was a metaphor or analogy exercise if I recall correctly, and I love metaphors and analogies in any language. Maybe, that’s why, I am a big fan of Arabic and Persian Literature. It’s just beautiful when everything you say has a deeper meaning than your mere words. I know that it’s a gloomy poem, but decided to share it anyway. Hope everyone’s book of life will eventually have beautiful colors and breathtaking chapter endings :)
