This is purely a work of fiction – inspired by a short story written by Leo Tolstoy entitled “How Much Land Does A Man Require?” Inspiration for this work also comes from one of the verses written by a well-known poet on this site – Tribhawan Kaul who writes proficiently in Hindi as well as in English.
Six by Two
He went to every auction
in the hope of buying land.
He bought residential plots
and agricultural land, too.
Any commercial site
that was up for sale,
he grabbed without any care.
Part of his land, he leased out
and part of it, he used himself.
He built mansions, villas, malls,
high rises, hospitals and schools;
architectural marvels and
antique-looking ones as well.
His fame spread far and wide
while his riches
lay buried safely inside.
Very soon, he owned
the entire territory.
As money poured in torrents,
his health began to fail.
Slowly, he had to sell his land bit by bit
to foot all his medical bills.
Soon his health
took a turn for the worse
and he found himself at Death’s door.
He now wondered how much land does one really need
and realized it’s merely a six by two in reality indeed.
And then he went away to a dark unexplored land.
Gita Ashok
22/6/2011, 10:45 am
how sad it is .life is not ours.and money cannot even buy life to the end.
This poem has much wisdom in it Gita and it's lovely to see you back with us. The last line is a triumph!
Beautiful poem Gita and thanks for mentioning me. It is wonderful to have you back on PF.
What a memorable moral to this story Gita.
a marvelous parable and very well-narrated, Gita...
Thanks for sharing ! I had also written on Tolstoy's story three years ago , on 'Poemhunter.com' ! - Raj
An excellent write Gita....with a great moral at the end...It can be extended to cover all the cases of extreme greed that we see around us...they cannot take any of it to the next kingdom!! Great tribute to Tribhawan Kaul - he is indeed a very talented poet.
gitaji, now nobody needs even land... 25000V electric power is more than sufficient! everything is electric now-a-days...
Wow this is a brillaint write Gita, of how much a man really needs in life. Excellent penning and so very true too.
Great! I see man drinks muddy water,eat glass,cut his skin with razor blades along the streets to srvive,and what else he wants just to fill his kinky bowels?