Erratic Life

Life, like a practiced comedian on the stage Keeps smiling and frowning in turn Under the embers of joy that spark from our hearts There lies the pulverized heap of shattered dreams Life is often a tight rope walk Demanding us to proceed with utmost caution A false step can often prove fatal Landing us in some bottomless abyss While staying at the Himalayan heights of joy We might be hurled down into the nadir of despair Soon after proudly flaunting the trophy We may be smashed into utter defeat Trials and sorrows predominate in life And joy is only a passing phase We are dragged down even by little things And the trivial sometimes assumes demoniac dimensions What is needed in this erratic course of life Is the ability to sustain a kind of equipoise We should stoically face life's challenges and trials And cherish, at any chance the short intervals of joy