Skip to main content

The Rose

One of the first roses that bloomed in my little garden
The following poem was inspired by it. 


Why do you look so penitent
like Tagore’s flower
that asked the master
to pluck it without delay
lest it droop and drop into dust?

Aren’t we all made for the dust?

You leave me wondering, however,
whether it’s the same master
that created the night’s worm
which seeks out your bed
of crimson joy.

Isn’t the worm made for the dust too?
Labels:

Comments

  1. IndraniSeptember 6, 2016 at 9:19 AM

    I wish there were roses blooming in my garden too... then may be I can pen some wonderful poetic lines like these. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anupam PatraSeptember 6, 2016 at 10:39 AM

    We, the worm, the rose, are all going to dust one day, whether the Master wanted it or not.

    Deep. This one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 6, 2016 at 1:03 PM

      Yes, dust is the ultimate reality. In the meantime the worms enjoy the real delights :)

      Delete
  3. Amit AgarwalSeptember 6, 2016 at 11:55 AM

    Profound!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pranju chakrapaniSeptember 6, 2016 at 12:26 PM

    Death makes us same, what differentiates us is the life we live :) And is life worth living without acknowledging each moment?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 6, 2016 at 1:07 PM

      The lamb and the lion, the rose and the worm... Why did the master have to be so cruel?

      Delete
  5. Purba chakrabortySeptember 6, 2016 at 1:28 PM

    Profound and beautiful :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Renu VyasSeptember 6, 2016 at 9:06 PM

    Beautiful words !

    ReplyDelete
  7. Durga Prasad DashSeptember 7, 2016 at 11:11 PM

    Wonderful. Loved reading your poem

    ReplyDelete
  8. sunaina sharmaSeptember 7, 2016 at 11:51 PM

    Beautiful poem.....liked how you brought Blake and Tagore together.....We are all made for the dust....but till we reach the end, a gentle touch would suffice....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 8, 2016 at 6:01 AM

      A gentle touch, yes. The Buddha would nod in assent.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl
44 comments
Read more

The Covenant of Water

Book Review Title: The Covenant of Water Author: Abraham Verghese Publisher: Grove Press UK, 2023 Pages: 724 “What defines a family isn’t blood but the secrets they share.” This massive book explores the intricacies of human relationships with a plot that spans almost a century. The story begins in 1900 with 12-year-old Mariamma being wedded to a 40-year-old widower in whose family runs a curse: death by drowning. The story ends in 1977 with another Mariamma, the granddaughter of Mariamma the First who becomes Big Ammachi [grandmother]. A lot of things happen in the 700+ pages of the novel which has everything that one may expect from a popular novel: suspense, mystery, love, passion, power, vulnerability, and also some social and religious issues. The only setback, if it can be called that at all, is that too many people die in this novel. But then, when death by drowning is a curse in the family, we have to be prepared for many a burial. The Kerala of the pre-Independ...
14 comments
Read more

The Rebellion of Christmas

One of the biggest ironies of Buddhism is that Buddha never endorsed the belief in God as done by organised religions but he ended up becoming one such God. Buddha did not advocate for prayer in the sense of appealing to a divine entity for favours or intervention. But his followers of today seem to be giving undue importance to rituals and offerings. Something similar happened to Jesus and his teachings too. Jesus was trying to reform his religion, Judaism, by making it more humane. He wanted to redeem Judaism from its meaningless rituals and displays of devotion . Religion is meaningless and even dangerous unless it touches the believer’s heart and transforms it. Jesus was not interested in the rubrics and the regulations prescribed by the priests of his religion. His primary concern was love and relationships. What good is religion unless it helps you to love your fellow human beings? “If anyone says ‘I love God’ and hates his brother, he is a liar,” Jesus’ beloved disciple Jo...
10 comments
Read more

Remedios the Beauty and Innocence

  Remedios the Beauty is a character in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude . Like most members of her family, she too belongs to solitude. But unlike others, she is very innocent too. Physically she is the most beautiful woman ever seen in Macondo, the place where the story of her family unfolds. Is that beauty a reflection of her innocence? Well, Marquez doesn’t suggest that explicitly. But there is an implication to that effect. Innocence does make people look charming. What else is the charm of children? Remedios’s beauty is dangerous, however. She is warned by her great grandmother, who is losing her eyesight, not to appear before men. The girl’s beauty coupled with her innocence will have disastrous effects on men. But Remedios is unaware of “her irreparable fate as a disturbing woman.” She is too innocent to know such things though she is an adult physically. Every time she appears before outsiders she causes a panic of exasperation. To make...
4 comments
Read more

Koorumala Viewpoint

  Koorumala is at once reticent and coquettish. It is an emerging tourist spot in the Ernakulam district of Kerala. At an altitude of 169 metres from MSL, the viewpoint is about 40 km from Kochi. The final stretch of the road, about 2 km, is very narrow. It passes through lush green forest-looking topography. The drive itself is exhilarating. And finally you arrive at a 'Pay & Park' signboard on a rocky terrain. The land belongs to the CSI St Peter's Church. You park your vehicle there and walk up a concrete path which leads to a tiled walkway which in turn will take you the viewpoint. Below are some pictures of the place.  From the parking lot to the viewpoint The tiled walkway A selfie from near the view tower  A view from the tower Another view The tower and the rest mandap at the back Koorumala viewpoint is a recent addition to Kerala's tourist map. It's a 'cool' place for people of nearby areas to spend some leisure in splendid isolation from the hu...
30 comments
Read more