Critics Have Appeared
critics have appeared
in these cyber times
hunting for poems
and passing wise words
on poems they swallow in seconds
and whose comments are like puke;
and whose own gems of poems when you seek
it turns out, they have not published any
at the very poetry portals where they pass such magnificent judgment…
O Ye Critics who hunt for poems
come back another day
when you have poems some of your very own…
poem by Raj Arumugam
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Names Of The Butterfly
the butterfly has a
thousand names
as many as there are languages
and in each even more names:
papillon, paruparo, borboleta, mariposa,
schmetterling, farfalla, fluture, drugelis, sommerfug,
pattampoochi, farasha, prajapathi,
thithili, chocho, hu-tieh
and so on, names a thousand and more
but the silliest name
illogical, unimaginative, and most clichéd
in all the world
is in Plain Jane English:
butterfly…
poem by Raj Arumugam
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Diogenes And The Philosophy Of Motion
And Diogenes is in his corner
and this young man
new Philosophy Graduate
of the Academy comes up to him
and sits beside him on the steps
of Raphael's School of Athens
and the young man says to Diogenes:
'There is no such thing as motion, Diogenes.
I shall prove to you through complex philosophy.'
And Diogenes gets up
and he walks away from
the School of Athens
and he goes to his tub
at the end of the marketplace
poem by Raj Arumugam
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A Poem Without Italics
A poem incapable of italics
is simply pathetic
- Jackrudin
a poem in which
even when necessary
you can’t
use italics
whether through ignorance
or through plain disabled
or through a technicality
is a sad poem
[...] Read more
poem by Raj Arumugam
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Dead Man Talking
it’s all so funny
even as my friends and relatives
and close ones sit weeping or stand with somber faces;
if I knew all I know now
as I am - cold, dead, finis,
I wouldn’t have done the things I did alive:
and what is it I know, now dead?
It’s for you to find out, mate…
go on and leave me in dead peace,
do your own work, your own living and dying…
I can only tell you just this,
it’s all so funny really…
poem by Raj Arumugam
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Moonlight-blessed
when I turned round the corner
walking alone, walking light
the moonlight spread over the open patch
and the coiled snake
twitched a little
straightened quickly
looked at me,
some proportion of surprise
but mostly in lethargy
‘be at peace, snake,
be at peace;
I wish you no harm
I shall go my way in peace
and so do you too’
and I walked on silently
moonlight-blessed;
and the gentle snake glided away
moonlight-blessed
poem by Raj Arumugam
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Three Principles for Success
In the old days
when I was a nobody
I needed a mentor
in order to groom me into success
into self-actualisation and to bring
all my dreams into reality
and so I found a mentor
and I learned of him the 3 principles
to success and complete achievement
And yes, since you ask,
I shall pass on to you the 3 principles
that my mentor had learned from someone before:
PRINCIPLE 1
Know what you want
PRINCIPLE 2
Never tell them all that you know
poem by Raj Arumugam
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Star Alone Star
star
alone star
shining, twinkling, moving
just being what you are;
star alone star
though watching minds make of you a meaning
a wish, or a symbol
but alone star you are simply what you are;
star alone star
unlike men, women
unlike intelligence that must form and associate
who must be this or that
conditioned and grown and nurtured
and shaped
and programmed;
but you star
alone star
not like this or that
but simply natural, what you are
poem by Raj Arumugam
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Greek-tragedy Funny
when all things are shed
like one takes off one’s clothes
and removes the make-up
or as one discards one’s body
as one kicks the bucket
in the good old-fashioned way
all this seriousness
is quite funny;
all this wisdom is
indecently foolish;
all this respectability
is unworthy;
all this meaning
is without content:
one’s importance is laughable
as when one laughs
in the midst of
too much stage-tragedy;
it’s greek-tragedy funny
poem by Raj Arumugam
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Time Kisses Us On Our Cheeks
time kisses us on our cheeks
and fingers our nipples;
time grins at us and we see
we have all come at the wrong time
and at the wrong places;
and when everything is arranged again
like a child moves the toys and dolls and figures at play
we look at one another
and think this is the right place and time
and then
time kisses us on our cheeks
and fingers our nipples;
time grins at us and we see
we have all come at the wrong time
and at the wrong places
poem by Raj Arumugam
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