Consoad - A Poem on Death

This is a Spanish poem so the literal translation might not be possible but it captures the very essence of the poem. "My day was good, let night fall" The metaphors used Day for Life and Night denoting the final closure – Death, sound so peaceful and so scenic. The whole poem has this very real feeling to it. I can imagine a wise man in that house staring out in that field, quite and content, reminiscing his life time.

Consoad by Manuel Bandeira

When the Unwanted Guest arrives…

I might be afraid.

I might smile or say:

My day was good, let night fall.

You will find the fields ploughed, the house clean,

the table set,

And everything in its place.

This poem often strikes me when I cross this place for cremation on the way to my college. And every time I pass that place, I say a silent prayer.. “God bless the departed.. and bless those who mourn the departed” and i think of all the dear ones I have lost. Of all the moments I have had with them, what it would have been like if they were still around. It is a chain reaction I think that we all have to think of the ones dead when we pass a place of death and remember what they were.

I remember my Dadi (grandma) and my Mamu (uncle).. How I used to hold my Mamu’s shirt and walk around when I was scared or how I used to act being sleepy while getting out of the car, just to be held by him. I remember my Dadi and I sleeping on the terrace on summer nights, listening to stories about Krishna in her soft sleepy voice. And I remember playing with her in the moonlight. And I wish they were here to see me. To let me take care of them as they took care of me. But they went expected and unexpectedly because it was their time and that this life is my journey without them.

What matters in the end what matters to me is that when I close my eyes and do remember their lifetime, I see all the good they have done, the laughter we have shared and the love that was showered upon me. And I thank them and God that I do have my other loved ones near me so that I don’t ever miss out on the chance.