This cosmos, indisputably, a sheer wonder
We cannot but bow before its grandeur
To what strange terrains opens its doors
And what secrets, hidden beneath the stars

From the merciless emptiness sans light,
From the deep silence of the horrendous night,
Was heard the bang of hammers
On the anvils of eons like thundering fire crackers

Abruptly through a gas cloud burst of inexorable force
Life emerged from stardust, our energy source
This is what the exponents of Big Bang assert
Life, from cosmic egg was hatched, some others purport

No doubt, this universe is an infinite stretch of lattice
Woven in the loom through billions of years by gratis
Where myriad wonders exist in the intergalactic space
And man has been on relentless effort to trace their course

As the wheels turned and as the fires burned
Through cosmic vapor the first atom was churned
How, over the eons, life here has flourished
With man’s wisdom and efforts nourished!

Galaxies are scattered in infinite space
And our planet Earth is well balanced in place
After the day’s vigil, when the mighty sun sets
The stars invariably take over on their night shifts

Multitudinous stars glitter and twinkle, a wondrous sight
As branching chandeliers, shedding luminous light
They are gems donning the night sky with their splendor
Where meteors dash and star light dances in nebulous glare

Some extra terrestrial hand has set the Earth in tune
And everything needed to hold life is benevolently strewn
Through countless dawns and sunset
Endless generations did come and beget

 Just as this universe was born, it would one day die
With all the planets, stars and starlets of the sky
Who can predict how it is going to end
With a bang or whimper, or is the end impend?

While it was raining heavily outside,
Two children in shabby, tattered dress
Stormed into our glass roofed patio
And at the door, for mercy did pause

They said they were out to buy empty cans
To make a living and support their family
The only work they could do at their age
And it was not their intent to dilly dally

I was in no mood to entertain them
As my hands with pending works were tight
A week’s laundry and some shopping to do
But was rather indisposed to send them outright

As I looked onto their starved faces
I felt a hard tug deep from within
After a moment’s thought, when I invited them in
In innocent mirth, their eyes did spin

When I brewed for them two cups of coffee
And gave some homemade snacks to munch
Their little faces bloomed in joy
As if savoring a favorite fruit punch.

All the while their curious eyes went
Flashing from nook to nook and every corner
On my well stacked shelves of china pottery
And the costly gadgets and the gas burner

When they were about to leave
They simply said- “Oh! You are rich!”
Of course a new revelation, it was to me
Something I had never thought over much

Yes, with a roof overhead
With enough means to feed my kids
And with a steady income every month
How rich I am compared to those hapless lads

Now, though many years have slipped by
I reiterate to myself what those children said
‘Oh! You are rich’ lest I shall ever forget again,
How rich I am and this thought keeps me ahead!