Allow me to tell you the story of this gentleman,
A man of trade, a travelling businessman.
What's his name, you say. Not relevant I say.
Mr Man! Yes, we'll call him that way.
He travelled near and he travelled far
And one day he reached the city of Samsara.
A city glittering and bright, verily a jewel in the night.
Mr M, displaying a yen, oh so common among men,
Promptly proceeded to a gambling den.
Alas! It wasn't his day, all his fortune he gambled away.
He piled up a heap of debts that he had no means to repay.
He ended up in the dungeons and his miseries multiplied,
Till one fine day when a stranger arrived.
He was from the Bank, (the Karmic Bank),
The bank would loan the sum,
The caveat, repay in person.
Ah! like a blind man receiving sight,
Such was Mr M's plight.
He left after signing his name,
Hoping to never come back again.
Years rolled by and Mr M did well. (In fact he did very well.)
Till one day he received some disturbing news
Of his matured loan, his pending dues.
Under the terms of the agreement
He had to be physically present.
Oh no! wailed Mr M, not again that wretched ol' den.
But an agreement was an agreement
That had to be honoured,
And so it came to be that he was back in that city.
Mr M cleared his debt and promptly left.
But alas! he turned to look back just once
And the lure of the den drew him back.
Mr M indulged once more in games n' frolics galore.
Only this time around,
Lady Luck gave him a smile
And he ended up with quite a pile.
Proudly did he strut to the bank,
Handed in his money, took out a bond.
With a flourish did he sign his name,
And why not? He'd won Round Two of the game.
But the fine print he missed.
Yes, that's right, another tryst.
To get the matured sum,
In person, must you come!
And so, some years hence, it was the same ol' nuisance.
Mr M began his journey to Samsara once again,
And the cycle started all over again...
Epilogue
I heard a wise man say,
'Tis the very bonds we sign in our name
That bring us to Samsara, again and again.
Forego the ownership,
The 'signing up', so to say,
And lo! the bondage simply falls away...