Wants success over bliss,
Wants money over satiation,
Wants love over caring
And possession over love,
Wants food for a stuffed belly,
Wants someone else to feed the sunken gut,
Wants innocence because its cute
But finds it stupid in oneself,
Wants to be revered,
But knows nothing about respect,
Wants freedom
Even at the cost of lives,
Wants prosperity
Especially more than their neighbours,
Wants everyone else to pay for their crime,
Wants forgiveness for what they did,
Wants a God
Better than yours,
Wants adherence to customs
Even in the lapse of humanity,
Wants the least blame unto themselves
But all the curses unto a sinner,
Wants the finest jewels for the naked breast
Which hides the most squalid heart;
From this world of hatred
And constrained love,
From this world of friendship
Living in the fear of societal approval,
From this world of status devoid of benevolence,
Deliver me!
In other words, deliverance from the self that searches for deliverance without...?
ReplyDeleteI meant deliverance from the self that searches for deliverance/benevolence without?
ReplyDeleteDear Meera,
ReplyDeleteYou caught it well! :-) Will reveal more soon...
Beautifully written. It echoes what most idealistic hearts feel.
ReplyDeleteawesome.
ReplyDelete"wants a God
Better than Yours"
A world fuelled solely
by the clash of egos
brilliance strived for
mediocrity despised
to what end
-hypocrite
Can it be that, with lots of love for this world n yet wanting deliverance too added to this list?..I find that in itself being a bigger irony than any of them mentioned there!
ReplyDeleteAny connection between the date of the post, the theme of the poem and the picture?
ReplyDeleteMadhu
Utopian Self !
ReplyDeleteA lil too ... depresssed to comment further - but just couldn't skip ahead without a comment. See you.
With Zest You Joined Hands Penning Zenith Together
Yeah! that's the word verification *wink*
@Eroteme:
ReplyDeleteI agree with Meera once again - I think that the whole post can be said to have as its prevalent theme - "Do unto others what you want others to do unto you", or rather "Be what you want others to be" or "Practise what you preach"..Sorta all these things put together...
Here you are speaking about how we want others to be something that we ourselves don't want to be ( most probably because of the inconvenience and discomfort involved in being so)..
@Krish :
I find your comment quite interesting. I think because of the love for the world the writer wants all the good things for it, and because the world anyway remains by and large unchanged, without accepting or striving for the good, Eroteme wants deliverence from it...
To juxtapose your prayer next to a 500 year old image, of Albrecht Durer's cinquecento-ed Hands is very well chosen, assuming that you know the story behind t/his drawing, that its message transcends time; as if to say that no one succeeds at anything, not even deliverance, alone ...
ReplyDeletehey thats a remarkably expressive set of fingers! - were the hands a part of the sketch of the virgin mary by any chance?
ReplyDeleteBy Jove! :-o
ReplyDeleteDear E,
True... Idealistic and disillusioned!
Dear H,
Glad you found it so. :-) Your verse is interesting. Really is.
Dear K,
You are very insightful! :-D Yes, that is the irony of this Prayer. I shall be summarising soon.
Dear MS,
Nothing conscious, but now that you mention it I think I should see if there is any! Do you find some connection? :-|
Dear L,
Isn't the Utopian self undying? ;-) Wonderful derivation from the word completion! :-)
Dear P,
It is hard to disagree with the lovely lady Meera! ;-p You have grasped the intent well. Small correction: Eroteme wants nothing! Eroteme merely penned the post. So deliverance is out of question... :-)
Dear NotR,
Aaah! Been a long while. Yes, I do know the story of the Praying Hands and it holds special place in my heart as it was a parallel to a sketch I had done for a friend (the index and the middle finger extended but the ring and little finger touching the thumb). I do not liken myself to the great German artist, but... :-) I had to search all over the web for what cinquecento-ed meant!! :-o And I must admit, I trusted you to find the link between the picture and the prayer (beyond being a common gesture of supplication)... :-)
Dear m.
Nope. Those are the hands of a man... Glad you like them! :-)
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high...beautifully written Eroteme. Need to do some research on the picture to participate in the conversation!
ReplyDeleteJust amazing blog! I am blown away straight!
ReplyDeleteWow! Keep it up!
Maybe someday I will also manage to make my own so clean and nice :)
Dear SCS,
ReplyDeleteThank you! I will soon share more about what happened behind the post. Nothing sensational!
Dear Nayan,
Thank you. You sure are generous with compliments. You like my blog because it is clean and nice? :-o Welcome here...
Wow you wrote that?
ReplyDeleteAlways profound aren't we?
Wow! This is so beautiful. So simply written yet so profound.
ReplyDeleteMy first time here :-) Enjoyed the ride!
-Arundhati
Dear K,
ReplyDeleteDoes the author matter when the piece's profundity is felt, anyway? :-) Glad you found it interesting...
Dear A,
Thank you. Glad you liked it. Welcome here! :-)
I still feel, between these words, that the writer is hopeful and loving to the world. I think we all have the makings of better people, but we are waiting for somone else to go first.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reminding me how wonderful my friends and family are, even with their faults. What else do we have?
I found you through soak the edge. Nice to meet you.
glittering,
Garnet
Ahhh! Deliverance. That which is so sought-after. Not just by the idealists, not just by saints but by every human. Don't we all seek to be delivered, from the frying pan into the flame.
ReplyDeleteP.S: Erotreme, I wonder if it is deliberate but you don't have your RSS feed enabled. It would make life easier for a lot of us :-D
Read this finally. love it :)
ReplyDelete:) I like your blog for your content and design both.
ReplyDeleteI like simplicity.. so i like ur blog design.
But the contents are really good and I hope you will write like this forever! :)
Sorry for late reply!
ReplyDeleteDear G,
Nice to meet you too. What you say is true. Lots of people wait for someone else to take the first step and love to sit back and consider possibilities and the like!
Dear B,
Thanks
Dear B,
I will get the RSS feed enabled. Nothing deliberate. I do things on this blog on a need basis! :-)
Dear W,
Finally. Been a while since you came by! Thank you. Glad it was to your taste...
Dear P,
There isn't a limit to many things! ;-) I did that. That is standing out in the rain! ;-)
Dear N,
Merci! :-)
u have a way with words pal. the simplicity of structure coupled with the complexity of the theme just makes your poem so special. i am thankful to my friend thru whom i got ur id.
ReplyDeletegreat going!
Silence is golden...no way to express the beauty of this poem...
ReplyDelete"From this world of friendship
Living in the fear of societal approval,
From this world of status devoid of benevolence,
Deliver me!"
Amazing...
Dear N,
ReplyDeleteThank you. Glad you found this poem interesting! And who might your friend be? :-)
Dear P,
Merci. Words have such a beauty in themselves (irrespective of the author associated with them). When I read what you had quoted here, I was touched, and then I realised that it is from the post! :-o
I quoted them...those four lines impressed me the most :-)
ReplyDeletefriend i was talking about is actually my student, padma.
ReplyDeleteMagnum opus!
ReplyDeleteA perfect reflection of my thoughts!