If I Were To Choose Poem by Nikhil Parekh

If I were to choose from; speeding in a motorboat to swimming against
choppy waves of the ocean,
I would prefer wading across the stormy waters profusely moving my
arms; rather than the insipid journey in the cruise liner.

If I were to choose from; languishing on the flocculent couch to
sleeping on the stone cold floor,
I would prefer to caress the ground; roll wildly in unparalleled
exuberance; rather than the effeminate comfort of the bed.

If I were to choose from; transgressing the desert barefoot to riding
on profoundly hunched camel back,
I would prefer to walk feeling the tenacity of blistering sun on my
back; rather than petulantly torture the innocuous beast.

If I were to choose from; reaching the pinnacle of the mountain top on
cable car to clambering up using a knotted rope,
I would prefer to onerously scramble my way to the top basking in the
spirit of paramount adventure; rather than descending on my destination
without flexing the slightest of my muscle.

If I were to choose from; drinking opulent wine floating in swanky
glasses to crystalline liquid extracted from the belly of earth,
I would prefer rapidly gulping the scintillating water; rather than
collapsing in a disheveled heap on the ground after devouring the inebriating
elixir.

If I were to choose from; inhaling artificial air from the compact
cylinder of oxygen to breathing directly from the atmosphere,
I would prefer to expand my lungs to their full capacity in my chest
drawing in ravishing puffs of oxygen; rather than respiring the adulterated
surroundings.

If I were to choose from; watching television to voraciously reading
infinite lines of literature,
I would prefer to exorbitantly exert my eyes trying to innovatively
perceive in the dormitories of my mind; rather than indolently viewing gaudy
images flickering on the silver screen.

If I were to choose from; dancing in the sleazy discotheque in an
ambience of bombastic lights to swirling on the vast ground,
I would prefer to rambunctiously gyrate under the dazzling sun god;
rather than consciously moving my body in the realms of nimble sophistication.

If I were to choose from; residing in the grandiloquent palace to the
rustic interiors of a tumbledown hut,
I would prefer to live in the ramshackle barn with boisterous droplets
of rain cascading freely through blatantly gaping holes; rather than having a
fleet of bodyguards parading around my impoverished persona.

If I were to choose from; staying secure in custody of the corrupt
leaders den to flinging my life away for the sake of my country,
I would prefer; to indiscriminately shed my blood on the battlefield
rather than keep leading a life of opprobrious contempt.

And if I were to choose from; my beloved and boundless notes of white
currency, I would definitely prefer her compounded with our penurious condition
to live; rather than leading a lackluster life divested of the desire to
struggle; a life utterly bereft of the zeal to live.