The friends ask you to party
You must try this restaurant
The movie is worth seeing
Why haven’t you bought a new vehicle
Is satisfying the senses real happiness?
Aren’t the so called senses the demons?
That shield you from the creator
Who keeps waiting for you
To break the curtain
To see the real Him
After which the senses wither away
And seldom call you to satisfy them
For having walked with the divine
They know they have lost you
While you got lost in the love
Of the one who created you.
The whole land is thine
The kitchens cook for thine
The looms spin for thine
What is wealth without you
Who owns the land but you
Who gives shelter but you
Who gives work but you
These were the verses sung by a fakir as he roamed places far and wide, ate what he received from kind people, wore what they gave him, slept on the bare ground or some place offered by the host at night.
He must be covering many lands remarked some, for his visits were once a year or sometimes longer.
One day the landlord in a village was rebuking a villager for not paying his loan instalment in time, when the fakir appeared.
Why are you shouting at him? asked the fakir.
Why shouldn’t I? He leases the land I own. Gets the seeds that I provide. Uses the water from my pond. Takes my bullock to plough and now says the crop is poor, the rains were poor!!
Okay, but haven’t you given all these on a selfish interest? When the good Lord gifted you with all these riches, did He charge any interest? And who said you own the land. When you die one day, inspite of all the riches that you lord over, won’t that be the day when this land owns you? The land doesn’t belong to you or him. You and we all belong to the blessed land…
Who looks at the crow in flight
and the lovely butterfly in sight.
Who ĺooks at the sun on shine
and the glowing moon so shy.
Who looks at the woman smiling
as she surveys the cows grazing.
Who looks at the clouds sailing
as the wind makes trees moving.
Who looks at the river flowing
flooded with heavy rain falling.
Who listens to the thunder falling
with looks of fear on faces passing.
Who listens to the birds chirping
in the silence of the ants climbing.
Who looks at the water while rowing
as the fish come to see who is sailing.
Who looks at the children playing
turning deaf to parents calling.
Who looks at mighty Lord so loving
who made mother nature pleasing.
On World Poetry day, here is my contribution for my readers:
When it simmers in the summer
as it freezes in the winter
when it floods during the rains
as it dislocates during landslides.
When it pours lava from volcanoes
as boats gets capsized in swollen rivers
when the earth shakes during a quake
as an epidemic swallows a community.
When hunger and thirst is rampant
as there is no pay after work
when there is no food to buy
as there is no shop in sight.
When you get ransacked by robbers
and animals take off your dear ones
while there is no water to drink
as the light goes out of your sight.
While the limbs get distraught
as the organs in the body fail you
when fire engulfs homes and dreams
then a disease lays you low.
That is when you think of Him
who though appears nowhere to be seen
still watches over you, to see
how you conduct yourself
when life’s woes befall you …
Perceptions 