This Day Last Year Poem by Bashyam Narayanan

This day last year
20 June 2012
We saw off a soul
His mortal remains
Got consigned to ritual fire
He was a man
Always after perfection
Childless, he was
Hence a home ever clean
Gentle and soft
In his approach
But knew when to be harsh
As he witnessed deviations
From his self-evolved norms
He earned enough
To maintain a good social status
Kept himself fresh and nice
And his wife too matched him
A happy couple, they were
Always seen together, as if
Made for each other
She fell always in his line
However, he only drew the line
Things were all fine
He has to relinquish his services
After attaining the age of sixty
Non-pensionable his job was
He ran the show
With same vigour of fragrance and colour
But his retiral benefits
Diminished at a faster rate than expected
Though worldly wise he appeared
He proved less money-wise
His unsuspected faith on his friends
Made him lose quite a sum
And his life troublesome
He was assisted to launch a business
And that venture too failed
With his failing health
A summer season fever
Came on to him severely
He was to be hospitalized
For near three weeks
But he never recovered
And before his physical inability
Became a burden to others
He breathed his last at the age of seventy five
In the afternoon of 19 June
And was cremated
This day last year