Title after “When tomorrow starts without me” attributed to David A. Romano.
POEM :
“ONE TOMORROW WILL START WITHOUT ME”
1st section
The days go by, the years go by,
Unerringly till the last one ;
The one we will ne’er know in advance…
But the publish’d poet be serene :
He has sow’d the seeds,
Far and wide,
In book form and on the Internet…
2nd
Milestone after milestone :
They add up, unerringly.
The greatest legacy be the book :
And I have churn’d out 107 of them…
3rd
Every morrow that starts
Be a bonus,
A treasure to be cherish’d :
For it might be the last :
Death does not announce itself…
4th
I be serene,
I be at peace :
Full well I know future reactions,
Future speeches, analyses,
Chats, depredations
But there be no stopping the muse :
It will forge ahead,
It will careen on,
It will operate at its own time,
Unerringly, dutifully…
5th
Tomorrow will start,
But not for all of us :
There must be some
To do the funeral, the rites,
To light the final fire
That will consume the body :
Not the spirit,
Not the works…
The works be safe,
Beyond destruction…
There will be wailings :
But the dead don’t hear…
6th
The writer’s death brings clarity
For others :
This be the price to be paid
By the writer…
Posthumous recognition will he reap…
7th
One tomorrow will start without me :
I will be gone,
Gone forever…
But the works remain…
A prolific body of work,
Painstakingly put together,
Print’d, archiv’d,
Sent to select’d repositories :
The University of Mauritius Library
Be the only one without fail responding :
Through thick and thin,
Through lockdowns,
Through Covid,
They respond…
They hold the legacy…
8th
One day tomorrow will start,
‘Twill be just another day for others :
But a milestone for poets…
For the writer who lives not to see it :
But he be serene :
He has done what need’d to be done…
“If it were done when it were done…”
Old man Billy should smile in his grave…
9th
More than 22 000 pages,
More than 4.5 million words,
Including large inputs
By Artificial Intelligence
In the form of analyses…
The archive stretches on,
Relentlessly…
A civil servant pivot’d out to poetry :
Strange,
But life itself be strange…
10th
One tomorrow will start without me :
But others will still be here,
To do the last rites,
To light the final fire
That will consume the rarity…
All turn’d to ashes…
The ashes to the waves will be confid’d :
To travel all over the world :
The oceans be not broken :
They all join up at some point :
Even at the land of Shakespeare,
Of Dickens…
11th
Endless chatter in the waves,
Waves crashing onto shores,
With echoes of the faraway writer
Who pass’d away
But remains in a class of his own…
12th
One tomorrow will start without me :
But I be ready since more than four decades…
My work has been done :
My work has been done…
I have written and publish’d :
Though much remains to be read…
The future will be tumultuous :
Be there one that can tell comprehensively ?...
13th
Death and braggarts,
Brag not too much :
For the writer be the final victor…
His works be beyond reach,
Beyond seizure…
Even by the Internet
Will they be cart’d to all nooks and corners…
------------------------------------------
Soman Ragavan
9 June, 2026
Mauritius (Indian Ocean)
------------------------------------------