Category: Poetry

Poems about nature and human nature.

Bharathiyar poem translation, Poetry

Bharathiyar Poem Translation – Prayer to God

Prayer to God

(Original poem by Bharaithyar)

How many crores1 of joy You fashioned!
Our Lord! O, Lord! O, Lord!

Spirit with matter – You melded
To forge the Five Elements,
Creating Heaven and Earth,
All those worlds, a treasure of colors –
A profusion of resplendent beauty.

Blissfulness is a state You created,
Where the awakened soul is fully realized,
Piety is a state You created –
Our Supreme! O, Supreme! O, Supreme!

1 – One crore is equal to ten million units. Continue reading “Bharathiyar Poem Translation – Prayer to God” →

Bharathiyar poem translation, Poetry

Bharathiyar Poem Translation- The Heart cannot Endure

National Songs

15. Current State of the People of Bharatham1

(Original poem by Bharaithyar)

1.  The heart cannot endure
Dwelling upon fickle minded humans,
Who live in deathly trepidation –
There is nothing in this world that doesn’t frighten them;
‘Wily ghosts’, they claim,
‘Dwells on this tree, lives in that pond,
‘Sleeps on the roof’s crest,’ – distress themselves,
In rumination, frighten themselves.         (The heart…)
Continue reading “Bharathiyar Poem Translation- The Heart cannot Endure” →

Poetry

When I like what I like…

Character Soliloquy¹ — Social Media

An aging dandelion with white tufts, ready to be blown away, in blurry green background with, blurred leaves.

Image by Shelly Paul

I like what I like and I don’t have to like anything else, 
Dictate the designers of social media.

If I like only what I like and if I don’t have to like anything else,
Then I don’t have to know anything else that I don’t like.

If I don’t have to know anything I don’t like,
Then what does truth or reality matter?

Continue reading “When I like what I like…” →

Poetry

Naragasuran’s Last Wish

Diwali Story

Photo by Sandeep Kr Yadav on Unsplash

As he lay there dying,
He came to his senses,
Realizing the horror he had become,

Asked of a boon that was noble:
‘Do not mourn my death, but celebrate a festival,
Let people wear their finest and exchange sweets,
Let there be rows of light and sparklers;

Continue reading “Naragasuran’s Last Wish” →

Poetry

The Bird with A View

Regan airport

Cloud tufts floating
Cast moving shadows
On Earth unsegmented
And segmented by civilization.

Above flies the bird with a view, Continue reading “The Bird with A View” →

Bharathiyar poem translation, Poetry

Bharathiyar Poems – The Victory Drum

The Victory Drum

(Original poem by Bharaithyar)

Strike the victory drum – Strike it,
Strike the victory drum.

We vanquished the ghost of trepidation –
We split the serpent of falsehood, drank away its life;
To absorb the entire celestial world like elixir,
We embrace the life of profundity. Continue reading “Bharathiyar Poems – The Victory Drum” →

Bharathiyar poem translation, Poetry

Bharathiyar Poems – Liberation – Little Sparrow

Liberation – Little Sparrow

(Original poem by Bharaithyar)

Stay liberated –
Like this little sparrow

In eight directions, it flies and roams,
Into the air, it ascends; swims rapidly through,
In measureless abundance lay,
The sky awash in light, is the nectar it savors Continue reading “Bharathiyar Poems – Liberation – Little Sparrow” →

Poetry

Separation

You stepped into eternity
Left me in time’s purgatory
I tore up my past –
It was tangled with memories of you
Future petrifies me because of the void you left within
A thousand abysmal days have trudged by,
Tell me my son,
What should I do with my time? Continue reading “Separation” →

Bharathiyar poem translation, Poetry

Bharathiyar Poems – Nandhalala

Nandhalala

(Original poem by Bharaithyar)

On the wings of the raven Nandhalala1 – is manifest
The black of your hue, Nandhalala;

In all the trees that come into vision, Nandhalala – is manifest
The green of your hue, Nandhalala;

In every sound that is audible, Nandhalala – resonates
The music of your song, Nandhalala; Continue reading “Bharathiyar Poems – Nandhalala” →

Bharathiyar poem translation, Poetry

Bharathiyar Poems – Kannama (3)

Kannamma (3)

(Original poem by Bharaithyar)

Permeating wind O, Kannamma1 –
Musing over your love makes me ecstatic
Elixir fount your lips,
Moon soaked brimming eyes,
Smelted to purest gold – your body;
In this world, for as long as I live –
You satiate my mind, precluding distractions
Transforming me into a celestial being, right here (on earth).

You are my jubilant life O, Kannamma –
All of my time, is in your devotion, Continue reading “Bharathiyar Poems – Kannama (3)” →