I looked at myself in the mirror
And saw a fool staring back at me,
As big a damn fool as could be!
I was taken aback by the rather nasty surprise,
It ruffled my ego I suppose!
But on calmer reflection
It dawned upon me
That it was really my phenomenal follies
The mirror mirrored,
My runaway desires,
My wistful longings,
My abandoned dreams,
My wasted emotions,
My unseemly haste,
My lack of spine
When I needed it most,
My loss of nerve at crucial hours,
My rambling talk
Without any matching walk,
My lazy morality,
My lackadaisical ways,
My wayward fancies,
My jumbled thoughts,
Contadictions galore,
My chipping away at the truth
And hollowing it out,
My brazen offence
Without anything worthwhile to defend,
My frequent lying to save my skin
Or to skirt some confrontation that truth demanded,
My wilful paralysing inaction
When there was a crying need for action,
My verbosity when maturity demanded
Fewer words or silence,
My impulsiven outbursts
When discretion asked for more restraint,
And so on and on and on.
Hence the fool
Staring back at me in the mirror!
Arun Bhagat
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Site Title Poetry of the Soul 
Harsh reality penned down so beautifully!!!!
Awesome poem Sir!!!
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Harsh realities are very much a part of life and the earlier we square up to them and take cognisance of them, the better! Thanks for your morale-boosting appreciation! God bless you!
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bitter truth….again a nice composition
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Sonia Ji, Harsh and bitter truths are also an integral part of life and we need to take stock of them as well and formulate appropriate responses to them, don’t we? Thanks for responding.
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Beautiful poem sir, it is so true.
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Thank you, Vijaylaxmi dear! Happy to see you engaging with what I write.
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Truth of life sir . We have to know these things and try improve them .
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You are right, Rashi. Unless there is an honest self-introspection and a willing acceptance of our blemishes and worse, we can never become better beings.
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A perplexed state of modern man…a beautiful composition Sir
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Thank you very much, Priyanka Ji! The list of human beings’ follies and foibles is a long one, making it imperative for them to look at themselves in the mirror and take stock of all those drawbacks. Thanks once again. Stay blessed.
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