The Universal Condition Poem by Raj Arumugam

There is always an art practiced
in all countries, all cultures,
when one speaks well
by not speaking the truth
yet it consists not of lies;
the transactions are done easily
with smiles
and things are understood and misunderstood
by the one who hears and
the one who speaks.
The visible are unseen
and the unseen are seen.
Everywhere it matters not if you
are a stranger or one of the locals,
but those who never mastered this
are left out of the herd.



(from The Migrant - notes of a newcomer (February 1997- July 1998))