I write the ballad of a faceless man,
From a timeless time and an unknown clan.
For tales of yore he had none,
And a future too perhaps undone...
 
He sang the songs of a priceless part,
Of the lasting breath and a beating heart.
Nothing else for him will ever be true,
Than a chance to live, that we seldom do...
 
Of love he had the strangest take,
Neither a virtue nor mistake.
The longer you long for that elusive prize,
Its actual meaning, you never surmise.
 
He often warned of the final dare,
The wrath of which could no one bear.
So why he says do we even resist,
The beauty of death, and eventual tryst.
                                                                                                     - Ibad Mohammed
© Rhymes in Reason, April 2020

Follow us on our social media pages for more such stuff:

Discussion about the poem:

History, future, present. What are these, if not a continuous ballad of being? I am suddenly reminded of a teacher of mine who, while teaching us soft skills, shared a profound insight which has stayed with me over the years. She said, “we are Human BEINGS, we must first BE, then do!”  This ballad then, is my attempt at unravelling the mysteries of Life, Love and Death.

In the second stanza, the ballad talks of the priceless gift that we have been given. The gift of being alive and awake in this world of ours. It tells us that a lasting breath and a beating heart are the truest forms of any truth that ever existed. Sadly, we take these gifts for granted and resort to just existing, rather than living life to its fullest.

Next, we move on to Love. Here, the ballad takes a rather strange approach. It calls love, or you can say being in love, neither an achievement to be cherished, nor a loss to be worried about. However, it does tell us that if we are engrossed in forever longing for it, we have not truly understood its real meaning. For love, unlike any other emotion, is felt only when we are giving it, not when we are expecting it.

Finally, we move on to the ultimate eventuality that every one has to face. It is a universal fact that no soul shall escape the wrath of Death. So, the ballad tells us, that if this is a fact, then why are we so afraid of dying? Why should we not be ready to face this eventuality and turn it into a beautiful journey rather than a painful end?

I know many will not agree with my reasoning’s here, but as always, these are just my thoughts and I know they are as flawed as me. So do take this opportunity to discuss, debate and argue with me on the same! And if you are wondering who the faceless man is, again I leave it to the better judgement of you, my dear readers!