When do parts become whole
Or a whole a sum of its parts
Do the parts always need to act in unison
Forming a common citizenship
And what happens when they are not
And conflict is the order of the day
When the glial cells in my brain
Are chewing up my own neurons
As per some grand design
Performing the role of a scavenger
Am I the conqueror or the vanquished
Am I the whole or the part
Which do I identify with
Oh! How many such deaths
And how many such lives
In this one life must I endure
Just in order to live

Am I really dying to live
Or living to die
A fine line distinguishing between the two
In this constant drama of life and death
Where I am being continuously renewed
Shedding off old skin
Metamorphosing into a new entity
At periodic intervals
Sometimes as short as within the same day
Or even the hour or the minute
And yet, I am mortally scared of dying
Like an ignoramus
For have I not already died many times
Over and over
In this living life
Or perhaps, living death
And been resurrected again and again
So what is one more death in this long chain of happenings
A minuscule of an event
Not worthy of any consternation
Not in this life
And even if there is one more to follow
Not even in the next

Subir Chakraborty
21st July 2023