"Man, be not proud": An all-original poem by Sujay Rao Mandavilli

 

Man, be not proud

An all-original poem by Sujay Rao Mandavilli

 

It is yet unknown how the universe stemmed from void and naught,

Or life from non-life arose without an explanation or a thought,

The mysteries of the cosmos, the self and the being are indeed, baffling and profound,

Man as yet wallows in his senseless arrogant proclamations and pompous naivety,

Unconvincing half-explanations in the wicked garb of truth and pretentiousness abound,

This is an attribute man has carried with him since eternity,

Therefore, hazy speculations are rife, and with great dangers are fraught,

The mysteries and origins of life are yet unknown and proven to be,

Conjectures are rampant, and substance not forthcoming as it perhaps never shall be,

 

Man knowest not how,

Man knowest not why,

Yet thinks or pretends that he does, and stumbles on without an inkling or a clue,

He still carries his egos and pompous vanity sky high,

Man skims on the surface shallowly even appearing pretentious and loony,

Man researches and blunders on dully and prodding drearily,

Yet thinks he comprehends all mysteries deep and profound,

That is why intellectuals may well be the greatest idiots of all time around,

Intelligence is subjective and relative truly,

His perceived intelligence may be no more deep than paganism, heathens and idolatry,

And no more wise at the outset than utter ignorance and stupidity,

 

That is why man botches up and fumbles on aloof and proud,

With his cronies, cabals, lead hands and all and sundry smitten,

Man is incorrigibly proud just as Donne on death had written,

Man in all his self-proclaimed glory nature bullies,

His reputation for posterity ever sullies,

Man, pompous, bratzy, domineering, will learn his lessons some time,

Even as he sullies and leadens the atmosphere with slime and grime,

 

Man proudly traces his life and existence from epoch to epoch,

From aeon to aeon and from age to age,

Claiming that he has become successively wiser with each epoch or with passing time,

Or successively more foolish, naive and petulant may we state,

Other species have plus points too but have carried them low,

Without haughtiness or even raising an eyebrow,

 

The earliest amphibians were accomplished in their own way too,

As were the earliest reptiles and the earliest birds in their primitive majesty,

Dinosaurs whether august and striding gallantly, gigantic, subtle-footed or puny,

Without waxing eloquent or raising their eyebrows unnaturally,

Stone age humans progressed and regressed a little both in equal measure,

with progress both material and non-material only slow and steady,

and flamboyance reserved for posterity,

 

We are ignorant still, and lack a holistic and a long-term view: man be not proud,

Each culture has its perils, just as its ego is unlimited and in sum remains infecund,

And tramples down on contemporaries with unfailing regularity,

Parochialism is always a new found reality,

Man has not learnt his lesson even with the launch and passing of industrial revolution or the internet age,

Each age thinks it is the greatest and the most triumphant till date, 

He has neither learnt any lessons from the past or may never even do so,

Nor can dream or aim a moonshot for the long-term too,

Bereft and devoid of a long-term and a holistic view,

Even as he makes claims of having conquered the depths of space anew,

He paddles on in his own self-proclaimed majesty and directionless stupidity,

He schemes his wicked machinations endlessly, deviously, and cunningly,

 

This despite all his pretensions of civilization and culture, is what man unfortunately is doomed to be,

This unfortunately speaks volumes about the capaciousness and caliber of man's intellect indeed;

In this regard and connection you may not be the pinnacle and epitome of creation, man,

Even so-called zeniths and nadirs exist in your self-conception only,

Man must not just be judged by his technological inventions or accomplishments alone,

Or by the senseless wars and battles he has waged or been privy to full-blown,

Man must also be judged by the perils and the limitations of his intellect; Man, be not proud.