Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar Poems

Parents spend on children,
And children, on parents later.
These are not debts.
Parents scold children,
...

Man beat man with whom
His wife or daughter has slept.
Woman beat woman with whom
Her husband has affairs.
...

The area marked becomes a unit.
The air captured becomes a unit.
The water canned becomes a unit.
Bound by the unit, the contents struggle.
...

The nose smells when the odour changes.
The conscience pricks when the wrong enters.
The nose goes silent after the change stays.
The conscience goes dumb after the wrong stays.
...

Say, ‘I love children.'
Say, ‘I love the God.'
Say, ‘I love my wife.'
You must say so
...

Be your writings inferior.
Hire a critic to review.
Pay media to advertise.
Spend for marketing
...

The prince must not be chosen
To an award constituted
Though he is found fit to it.
He and the king will fall from grace.
...

I shall own my father
Even when he has fallen from grace.
A branch owns its stem
Even when it has been infected.
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How much is too much? How much is enough?
One is conditioned to search for the line.
It's as uncertain as the time of death.
So rivalries up; miseries crop up.
...

Divorce not in vogue, marriage was sealed.
Hers is his, his is hers and all are theirs.
Husband and wife were trusts for each other.
Monogamy was, hence, not monotony.
...