Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar Poems

It is not enough that you requite my love,
Nor am I content that you desire me.
Others must know that we love each other
As a mother wants her child born to be known.
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Diminution in belief is a tragedy.
Diminution in faith is a tragedy.
Hope is sent by them into jeopardy.
Hope lost, heaven is perceived as a hell.
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The candle is shut and the flame is out.
The candle is left and the life has set.
Before shut, the candle must have been lit.
The unlit candle can never be shut.
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What is so called affair,
The flirting in secrecy?
Seeing, pursuing,
Assignation,
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To believe in something as true
Which it is not, sooths one’s soul
Rather than disbelieving something
As not true, which it really is.
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A woman substitute herself for the heroine
And a man substitutes himself for the hero
And each enjoys the presence of the other
And both find interesting a love scene.
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With my spectacles left at home,
I sought the server’s help
To read the menu on the table.
‘You too are illiterate? ’
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What is that your woman wants?
What does she look for in a man?
Even Sigmund Freud was helpless.
Man must be rich, successful, loving,
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The child is sincere in what it does;
With no goal set, it will not be tense.
Man is serious in what he does;
With a goal set, he will be tense.
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I am lucky in that
I am in the old age home
Run by my son.
Yes, he would be there
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