Category: A03 — POEMS

Oh, no, you are wrong.
I give my best when men leave
My parting gift is the best.
When they go for the final rest.

I’m a huge tree standing firm on the ground,
Deep rooted, branches spread high and wide;
I give men everything for living,
Food, houses, carts and boats
But, the best they receive, is while leaving!
Yes, I give them firewood!

Placing them on my lap, as Mother Earth does
I pat and say, ‘relax, why hurry?
You have run enough, stretch, sleep,
And sleep’
Then comes the fire, with thousand tongues
Licks me with love with all its tongues!
And in no time we are one,
There is none to block our way,
we carry the surrendered to the sky.

The wind hugged me, I didn’t become the wind;
Drenched in rain but didn’t become water.
But when the fire touches , the firewood becomes fire
If water is the start, fire is the last.

‘And Moortis in between?’

Yes, with AvAhanam in water, you start
And with poornAhuthi in the fire, you end
AlankAram, archana and other aaraadhanas to idols
In between – that reflects your beginning,
Middle and end.

‘Oh, Tree, I’m safe in your hand to reach my land !’

Vicha, mera bhayya
Achaa kardiyaa mera naya saal!!
‘Ikkada noppi, akkada noppi’
Evarukku noppilu Lethu, Ayya?

Viswanatha Iyer, my brother,
You marred my new year,
‘Pain here, pain there’,
Who is free from pain?

Our mother’s pain brought us here,
Father’s pain raised us in life,
My pain on your pain brought me here,
Your pain marred my New Year Day!!

No, it didn’t, while pressing your legs
I could think of your service to our mother
You did press and balm her legs
While I was compressed by my duty
In a place far away.

I’m glad that God gave me a ‘kindi’ in you
To pour out my dues to wash your legs
Your legs are our mom’s legs
Which you washed and dried.

Why go that far back,
What happened last year?
Were not my children pressing my legs?
Let my service to you clear their due too.

Any dues are to be cleared
To anyone, now or later.
It is good to go back with no baggage,
Like a bird freed from its cage.

PS- Kindi is a vessel with nose to pour water, used mainly for abhishekam to the deities.

My armor is empty
But my arms still move,
My horse fell,
Chariot broke,
My infantry vanished
Cavalry vanished,
Vanished not my will
Not my trust in me
Not my trust in God,
I will win this war,
I will.

‘One among us is dead’
That is all they said!
And that is my guess.

Got electrocuted
A crow was hanging on a wire.
In no time, crows gathered in the air
In hundreds, cawing, fluttering.

Yes, in no time, but how?

Wi-Fi they have?

Was the mother, wife, son or daughter
Of the crow there in the crowd?

How did they weep?
How did they withstand the shock?

What condolence message they passed?
Did they discuss about the disposal
Of the dead crow, hanging on the wire?
Did they talk about the assets left over?
And how to share it?
Did they discuss about the soul,
It’s movements, up or down?

Unaware I’m ; heard only the cawing,
Saw only their fluttering.
Don’t even know whether they wept or laugh?
Will birds laugh when one among them is dead?
Will animals laugh when one among them is dead?

They would have only said:
‘One among us is dead!’
And that is my guess.

No assets to share,
No books to tell where the dead crow would go,
Other crows would have simply said,
‘One among us is dead!’
And that is my guess.

Wonder whether anything more
Anything less, to say
When one is dead
I mean, when a crow is dead!

Meghana’s pre-dawn prompting, ‘my personal favorite and bias is your poetry, appa!’, propelled my feeling from the cavern of my heart and the result is this forest stream. Compressed feelings and thoughts need only a match stick to flash as a flame.
Thanks Megh. You made my day.
——————-

‘When and where did we meet first?’
Holding my hand, she mumbled,
‘And when and where will we meet again?’

Only a few drops of oil left,
The wick was wavering,
The shine was going dim
I could realize
Her grip too was loosening
Her voice was weak,
But the question clear,
‘When and where did we meet first ?
Pause,
‘When and where will we meet again?’

I answered the first half
But, how, how will I answer
The other?

Anywhere in this country,
Continent, even beyond that,
I could have given the answer,
May not be accurate,
But an answer that will
Make her soul peaceful
While flying up.

But if I meet her
Beyond the lands,
Beyond oceans,
Beyond the horizon,
Beyond the lands where
The Sun, the moon
The stars and planets
Roam ?
How will I recognize her
If we meet in a land
Of no air, no light?

We may not meet at all
But how to tell her,
My beloved one waiting
To hear from my mouth
Her last wish, I’m sure
Her last wish.
She wants to hear
‘I will meet you’

How to tell lie to a simple
Woman who lived for me
Who is leaving me
As no other go.

Her grip on my hand
Was losing further,
The hand which held me
When I used to slip and fall
Not once, was loosing hold.

No more waiting.
‘We will, we will meet’
I yelled and wept.
Wept uncontrollably
As the soft weak hand
Had freed mine
Freed for ever.

But, I could see on her lips
A shine, soft like her hands
Has someone recharged the lamp
With fresh oil?
Has a soft hand, like hers
Replaced the weak wicks?

Or, am I flying closer to her
To meet beyond the lands
Oceans and continents,
Beyond the horizon?
Beyond the lands where
The Sun, the moon
The stars and planets
Roam ?

Ha, ha, Konthai,
morning from here,
Looked at the watch
December seven.
The date Mookkunni @ recorded
The day, I was launched
Great you remembered,
Though I didn’t.

My launch was great
Not because I became great
But I became your dad
And of your brothers,
I became the eldest brother
Of my siblings,
I became a worthy son
Of my parents,
A honest husband
To your mom,
A faithful worker to my employer
And above all
I never made my  Owner
To regret my launch

All others are unimportant.
If a man is honest to his woman,
Children, siblings and God,
All other things are unimportant.

And for me, only important
Is your love, others love,
God’s love and life’s love.

‘We are ALWAYS with you’,
You said and I know.
That ‘we’ covers everyone
Including your mom.

‘Mom’?.
Yes, your mom,
You and your brothers
Are her gifts,
The golden flowers,
Fresh and fragrant ever,
She gifted.

I hear your asking,
‘What is life’s love?’
Life loves only those
Who love’s her,
I love my life
And you all are my life!

@ the name of the astrologer who wrote my horoscope

Anja is a baby and she has a baby!

‘Can she make kAppy?’
I asked her mammi

‘My pearl plays with puppy’
She said, all were happy!.

My tongue never in locker
And I’m always talker.
‘Teach her to make sambar
Idli, Dosai, chutney
Love comes from food
Atchu loves all good’

Anja rushed to kitchen
Leaving behind kitten,
In lightning speed she learned
Appa’s praise, she earned!

Anja is a baby and she has a baby.

She can make now Olan,
Sambar, thoran Kalan!
Anja has now won
Appa and his son!

Anja is a baby and she has a baby.