A BIRD IN HAND  &  ‘CARPE DIEM’*
It has been wisely observed and said,
That a bird in hand is worth two in the
bush always.
Therefore, let us grab this day before it
begins to slip away my friends!

The Afghans are perhaps the only people
in the world who pray after their meal!
Since they are more concerned about the
outcome, -
Than the intentions the behind things!
Just as the proof of the pudding always
remains in its eating!

Now the Latin phrase ‘Carpe Diem’ meaning
‘seize the day’, - has been a popular theme of
English poetry even to this day!
It was first used by the Roman poet Horace in
his ‘Odes’ during 23 BC,
Which spoke of enjoying the day before it
ceases to exist!
This theme is also found in Shakespeare’s sonnets;
In Robert Herrick’s lines ‘To the Virgins to Make
Much of Time’; in Andrew Marvell’s seductive
lyric ‘To His Coy Mistress’; and also in poems of
AE Houseman, and Robert Frost, - among many
other poets.
Here are few lines from Andrew Marvell’s seductive
lyric - ‘To His Coy Mistress’:-

“But at my back I always hear
  Time’s wingéd chariot hurrying near:
  And yonder all before us lie
  Deserts of vast eternity.
  Thy beauty shall no more be found;            
  Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
  My echoing song: then worms shall try
  That long-preserved virginity!
  And your quaint honor turn to dust,
  And into ashes all my lust.                  
  The grave’s a fine and private place,
  But none, I think, do there embrace!”

Now I conclude with few lines from my
favorite Henry Wordsworth Longfellow’s
poem - ‘The Psalm of Life’:

“.…Trust no future however pleasant!
       Let the dead Past bury its dead!
       Act, act, in the living Present.
       Heart within, and God overhead!
       Lives of great men all remind us,
       We can make our lives sublime,
       And departing leave behind us,
       Footprints on the sands of time!…”
                                               -Raj Nandy, New Delhi.
                                                composed on 03 JULY 2020.