Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar Poems

An old lady was dead. She was my father’s
Mother’s elder sister, who brought him up
After his mother’s death when he was at seven.
I went with him to attend the funeral.
...

To believe sweet lies and gossips
To believe invented stories,
To believe rumours and ghosts
And to believe magic is pleasure.
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It is an irony to believe that Ayothya
Is the birth place of Rama, as by the time
When Rama lived around 1450 B.C.,
Aryans never crossed Punjab or beyond.
...

You are more enchanting
Than the enchantment itself.
You are more beauteous
Than all beauties combined.
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I read a touching fiction
Or watch a moving movie,
When I suspend disbelief
And accept as reality
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A man can’t stand a woman’s glances
Nor does he ignore a woman’s tears.
He finds himself timid before her.
He finds himself weak compared to her.
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Being in poverty is sorrow.
Leaving comfort is sorrow.
Wish withheld is sorrow.
Fear upheld is sorrow.
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Kannaki!
Have you done any godly things
For having become a goddess?
Rage and revenge are not godly things.
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To give alms is compassion.
To feel for one’s sufferings is sympathy.
To share one’s sufferings is empathy.
What you do to parents is compassion,
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You must earn you rest
To see a beauty,
to hear a song
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