The Fisherman Poem by Amrit Rathi

I went to the sea, as I often do
when I have certain problems I can’t get through.
With a smile of compassion from the waves and surfs,
he greeted me graciously, and I told him my mind,
“I tell you something that you may find”,
he blinked and said, “To get some clue, ”
from what happened at the break of day
to a fisherman: it’s something new!

It was still dark before the daybreak,
a fisherman was coming towards me,
talking to himself, he said, “Dear me!
Let me cast my net early into the sea.
By the grace of God, I would say,
perhaps a big catch would come my way.”
He cast his net into the sea in the dark,
and, lo! felt a big load on it in a spark.
He jumped with joy, “Wow! Such a big catch! ”
He pulled it out fast, excited to see this batch.

But when he opened the net, he started crying:
“Nothing but stones—O God!
What a cruel joke!
I’m a poor man.
Why for me such a rude shock! ”
He sat with a stern face, throwing the stones
back into the water, one by one,
his heart full of moans.
The last stone, when the first ray of sun
fell on the water to make it shine,
was pure—so gloriously pure!
The shine of a diamond, anyone would be dazed!
As the fisherman stared at it, totally amazed,
But the hand of the fisherman had nothing to plea;
the diamond was already thrown into the sea.
“What a mistake! Forgive me, O God!
These were the diamonds and precious stones
that I threw down, I’m such a moron.”
He became crazy and mad. He got angry; he got sad.

Many good things of life,
like these diamonds, come our way:
whether love, friendship, joy, beauty, or any other valuables, one can say.
We don’t see they’re important, and throw them in waste
in our foolishness, ignorance, or haste,
until
it’s too late to be realized and faced.

What about your talents, unexplored, unattended?
What about cast-away love and relations?
Would you throw away the pearls of your experiences
along with the net of limitations and taboos,
always lost into do’s
and don’ts?
Drowning of your ambitions, could you ever think?
Your dusty dreams would you trade for anything?
We don’t count our blessings;
care not what we have;
just keep complaining about
something not there-
something we crave.
And that’s the human problem—very, very grave!

So care what you have with all your love
in the fabric of compassion for yourself and others:
you will certainly enjoy and rave!

I thanked the sea,
and hurried back home.
Perhaps just a mile!
I will light a candle,
and look for a while
at all the treasures I have in the house:
all the gems in the dust, unnoticed, uncared;
I would carefully browse everywhere,
for these precious moments like a tide of time
are going, never to come back again while,
to make my days laugh;
and the nights to quietly smile.

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