Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar Poems

An idol made of pure marble
Will be taken to be real,
More due to viewers’ devotion
Than to maker’s contribution.
...

Name stands for a thing
For its contents and quality.
Name stands for a person
For his body and soul.
...

With eraser in hand,
I am carefree to make mistakes.
With prayer in hand,
I am carefree to commit sins.
...

War of minds that royal ones wage.
War of words that common ones wage.
War of swords that men in slums wage.
Hatred is same; routs are different.
...

In a marriage, as in a war,
There is some wastage to both sides,
No matter how best it’s handled.
The winner must be ready for it.
...

The dog doesn’t say,
‘I love you.’
Instead, it wags.
The dog doesn’t say,
...

Trust was lost so marriage was designed.
Trust was lost so lock was invented.
Trust was lost so signature was assigned.
Trust dying cannibalism might hatch out.
...

When I no longer excite women by sight
I would have lost half of taste in life.
When women no longer arouse me by sight
I would have lost the total taste in life.
...

Mind like body has a frame to hold things.
It alters its frame to hold new things in time.
Having adjusted to new arrivals
It will dropp the old which will not refit now.
...

Friends disowned, relatives disowned,
An unwanted element I was.
Desire to cling to life did not abate.
...