Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar Poems

In every merger, be it subjective
Or objective there come casualties
Of identities. Old identities
Are sacrificed for new identities.
...

Epics were not shaped by what really happened
But what was perceived to have happened.
Imagination has glorified it.
Epic heroes are not God incarnates.
...

The orthodox of this era
Had been the heresy of the past.
The customary of this era
Had been the revolutionary of the past.
...

Veneration for anything old-
Be it a document or a monument-
Stands not because of any merit there
But because of their long continuance.
...

Love too has wear and tear.
The continued presence
Of lovers give wear.
The lasting absence
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Conscience is built by conditioning,
On the base brought by heredity.
Conditioning is the result of the known,
From which the knowledge has been formed.
...

To mediate is not to adjudicate.
To mediate is to get a compromise.
Compromise is not the justice given
But the one struck by weighing their weak points
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Money can buy might; might can buy money.
Individually or collectively
They decide justice or ensure success.
To them will bend all the mightiest rules.
...

I seek wealth more and more for safety.
I seek land more and more for safety.
I seek friends more and more for uses.
By guarding them I lose my safeties.
...

I cultivate crops to benefit.
I shepherd sheep to benefit.
I obey the king to benefit.
All pray to God in the same foot.
...