Withered As Delayed Poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar

Oval face, bow like brows, fish eyes,
Arrow nose, rose lips, pearl teeth,
Snake neck, erect bosom, and coal lock
Are a set of grammar for a woman’s beauty,
All of which err in your faculty.
Sleek and slender you are, even at forty,
With wrinkle less belly, as if not mothered.

Your nimble feet and dexterous hands,
With sensuous moves and sensual mind
Can enthrall anyone and then why not me?
Attention and admiration I pay you.
My enlivenment and enrichment I owe you.
A hard pearl in a tender shell.
A pride to the owner and envy to others.
You are aroused, it is my gift.
You are spirited, it is for his credit.

Delayed to blossom,
By when came Autumn,
The bud withered without at blossom.
14.06.2000, Palakkad