Parable Of The Prodigal Son Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

'Let me have my share,
Oh, my dear father,
I'll seek my fortune
Abroad, ' said his second son.

In the form of gold his property
He gathered and took his journey
Into a far away country
Hoping for a life of bounty.

All his wealth he spent,
And he was left in want,
With his riotous living
And no help coming.

His hunt for a job in vain
Made him a servant to feed swine.
The swine-food-husks he ate,
And in regret, he cursed his fate.

He recalled the days bygone,
When the servants one by one,
Stood before him with folded hands
And obeyed all his commands.

A sinner, he felt, against Heaven
And wished to go back again
For seeking his father's pardon,
To forgive and forget his sin.

He lost his rights moral,
As he went out in quarrel,
And wished to join the farmhouse
As servant, not as son of the house.

His father saw his homecoming,
And went towards him fast running.
He hugged him and kissed him,
Showing all his compassion to him.

'Father, I've sinned against Heaven,
And I'm not worthy of thy son.
Forgive my sin, ' said the son,
'As a servant, please take me in'

The father brushed aside his words,
And to the servants gave orders
To give him best of the robes,
A golden ring, and polished shoes.

He ordered for a grand feast,
And to cook a calf, the one fattest,
To give his son the finest treat,
Welcoming his homeward retreat.

'My son was dead and alive again,
And was lost and now found again, '
So saying his father patted his son,
To the merriment of everyone.

The elder son in the field returned.
One of the servants mentioned
What, in his absence, happened
Which made him disheartened.

He stood, in anger, outside,
And refused to come inside,
As his father never gave him
Such a grand party to him.

'My son, with me your stay is long,
And all that I've, to you they belong.
He was dead and is alive somehow
He was lost and is found now.'

'You join us in this grand meet
To give him this welcome-treat
And let us forgive and forget
What he did as he knew not.'