THANK YOU, LORD

                                                         

                                                                              

            

                  1)      Thank You, Lord, for my humble state

                        Which curbs my pride and will not make me prate

                        Thank you, Lord, for spreading thorns on my way

                        I’ll strive to find good way and will not stray.

            2)        Thank You, Lord, for my hard-won bread

                        You made me feel the woes of poverty dread

                        Thank You, Lord, for making me stay

                        Under a simple roof with no splendor gay.

            3)        Thank You, Lord, for making me lose

                        Chances I thought too good for use

                        You made me know the simple life of content

                        And spend my means with care as if God-sent.

            4)        Thank You, Lord, for not making me great

                        If so, I make my rivals red with hate

                        Thank You Lord, for Thy daily grace

                        Each breath I have comes from Thy rays.

            5)        Thank You, Lord, for not granting my desires

                        That grow unchecked like forest fires

                        Thy kindness showed me another door

                        To suit my worth and not strive for more.

            6)        Thank You, Lord, for Love’s rejected state

                        I know Thy Love more precious than heavenly mate

                        Thank You, Lord, for many hurdles I got

                        It made me humble and Thee never forgot.

            7)        Thank You, Lord, for my state as a common man

                        I share with others whatever I can ;  

                        The simple pleasures of common lot 

                        With free and frank untroubled innocent hearts.                      

            8)        Thank You Lord, for not giving status prime     

                        These petty things do fade away with time

                        Thy Grace eternal, sustains the universe vast

                        Thy merciful looks enough, kindly cast.

           9)         Thank you, Lord, for severing earthly bonds of love

                        That drag men down with leaden grief from above

                        Which lead men astray like floating devilish flames

                        Beheld by men at night, a cheating game.

         10)         Thank You Lord, for making me realize

                        The trouble and pain from those that despise ;

                        You made me feel the painful darts

                        Of insults that pierce the inmost heart.

         11)         Thank You, Lord, for Thy precious gifts of life

                        Due gems of truth you teach through strife

                        This whole body, a corpse, without Thy light

                        The dawn of life comes from Thy visage bright.

        12)          Thank You, Lord, You know my ultimate end

                        Ever at my side to guide and my ways to mend ;

                        Countless chances from Thy boundless mercy

                        More numerous than galaxies we see.

                                 ***************************

   27th May, 2017                                  Somaseshu Gutala

                     

                                  

                         

                                        

HOW CAN YOU ?

 

                                          (  I  )

                      I wish to see God, my soul proudly asks

                                As if it were an easy, simple task ;

                                The Lord, so many million-suns-bright

                         How can it bear, your feeble, human sight?

                                The Lord who is as vast as limitless sky

                                How can you enlarge your mind to identify?

                                The lord who is fathomless as the deepest seas

                                How can you delve deep within your soul to see?

                                The Lord who shines like million tongues of volcanic fire

                                How can you dare to entertain such a desire?

                                The Lord, Creator of vast dimensions of Time and Space

                                Beyond your mind’s limit, how can you ever trace?

                                The Lord who throbs in every smallest mite

                                How can you realize His supramental light?

                                                                     (   I  I  )  

                                  The Lord who spreads His blessings in gentle breeze

                                  Can you ever dare to feel with spiritual ease?

                                  You know not your own self in ignorance caught

                                  Bound by illusion and web of desires self-wrought;

                                  Most omnipotent power He doth yield

                                  His breath of life throbs ev’n in tiniest seed;

                                  In lifeless objects too and in every atom and cell

                                  His immanent shaping power ever dwells;

                                  He sports with joy in this universal maze

                                  His omnipresent form beyond your narrow gaze;

                                  His omniscient schemes beyond your narrow creeds;

                                  You can’t remember your own sinful thoughts and deeds;

                                  My bosom humbled, free from egoistic ways

                                  Found hope at last in His ever flowing Grace .

                             **********************************************************************

               1)      Supramental  =   above normal mental level
               2)     Immanent       =   Existing within
               3)     Omnisicent     =   know everything
               4)     Omnipotent   =    have unlimited power
               5)     Omnipresent  =    present everywhere
             

        Note : Ordinary human beings cannot directly see God. In Mahabharata Lord Krishna bestows spiritual vision to Arjuna so that he could witness His cosmic form encompassing all planets, elements and spiritual worlds. Only yogis who reached perfection can see his form at a subdued level. Even for that they have to get the grace of God. Sincere devotion and total surrender are the means by which ordinary mortals can realize to some extent about the greatness of God.  God is known by his supreme qualities like omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience. He is the creator, preserver and destroyer of all worlds and beings. But  we can feel His presence wherever we see qualities like beauty, love, wisdom,sympathy, non-violence, forgiveness, patience, peace, selfless service, sacrifice and truth.  

"God dwells in His creation and He is everywhere indivisibly present in all His works. He is transcendent above all His works even while he is immanent in them." ---- A.W.Tozer 


May 1st, 2017                                                              Somaseshu Gutala

                             

                                           

MIDSUMMER MUSINGS (ODE TO A BROOK)

                     

                                                                                                               

                   

                                                        (  I  )

                              Midsummer hath dried up thy heart

                              Not a puddle to see; a vast desert

                             Thy track became:  imagine what I found

                              In thee, once so deep and profound –

                              Dry rotten weeds, rusty bars and thorny shrubs

                              Tangled hair and cracked edges, marks of wear and tear

                              Worthless junk thrown away by some person

                              Tattered clothes, rags and dry bones of a butchered hog

                              And skeletal remains of a drowned poor pariah dog

                              And rocks of different shapes and sizes lying bare

                              Greeted my inquisitive view; the shock of reality

                              Sapped my disappointed heart with summer blaze.

                                                                 (  I I  )

                             No mystic message have you conveyed but showed

                             Thy barren track; no colorful swimming fish beneath

                             Thy glassy bosom of water but dry sandy dunes ;

                              I dreamt of seeing mysteries beyond my earthly vision

                             The holy relics of the past or sacred figurines of crystal

                              Left buried in thy sandy bed or Nature’s curious works

                              So secretly wrought of multi-colored stones and shells

                              With whorls so delicately marked or antique coins

                              With worn out figures or shards of bygone times

                              Left as relics of undiscovered times when rulers spent

                              Their means on glorious temples and mansions great;

                              Nor did I find the magic herbs and foot-prints of nymphs

                              So charmingly portrayed by poets in romantic lore;

                              Midsummer hath opened the doors of stark reality

                              And showed me what I never guessed to find.

                                                               ( I I I )

                              I lock the hope within, oh sylvan brook!

                             To see the flowing silver stream of life

                              Fill thy bare lap again with charms full;

                              And make thy banks again awaken with sweet life

                              When August rains of south-west herald with speed

                              The glorious sight of swelling waterfalls

                              And fills my heart with a strange throbbing rapture

                             To see the ring of wonder surround the common life;

                              Oh flowing stream of life! Wonder of wonders!

                              Flow on unchecked in thy own free way!

                              Flow on through hills and vales as freely as a lay

                              Lending a mystic touch to our earthly life, I pray.

                       *************************************************************************

                     

                             

                   

                      23rd April, 2017                                            Somaseshu Gutala  

                                                  

         

                 

                                                

COMING DOWN

                                                 COMING DOWN

                       Though servants in shining magnificent attire

                       Didn’t kneel before Thy feet, and though the grand

                       Cheers of jubilation did not sound their joyful lyre

                       Oh Lord, for Thee sounded the celestial band

                       Of angels with their pious bosoms’ strings

                       Like glow-worms sparkling in the shades of night

                       With soothing prayers and soundless fanning wings.

                       Not the royal mansion with gilded marble dome

                       You chose; under the open wide free sky

                       Upon the dew-decked December grass

                       A humble sheep-shed you chose as your home;

                       Not to rule us as Lord, but make us sigh

                       For your too noble sacrifice for us, on the Cross.

                         ***********************************************

                          

                                

                         

      "Grace is the free, undeserved goodness and favor of God to mankind."

    - Matthew Henry

  16th April, 2017                                        Somaseshu Gutala

ON KILLING A COCKROACH

        

                           

       

                                         ON KILLING A COCKROACH

                   1)          Each night like a thief she comes unseen

                                 With sensing feelers so long and keen

                                 With her defiling touch our food she spoils

                                 As if mocking at our kitchen care and toil.

      

                   2)            Her nightly visits upset our rest

                                  Determined to exterminate this pest

                                  A strategic position I cautiously took

                                  Waiting for her to come out of her nook.

                   3)            My heart is full of fire for this crafty cockroach

                                  Sensing my presence she did not approach

                                  A piece of candy I kept as bait

                                  Till she arrives I have to wait and wait.

                  4)             With nimble pace she crawled so fast

                                   Her dark brown back in a trice I lost

                                   I threw my broom at her though fast

                                   She leapt like a nymph beyond my thought.

                  5)             Let me destroy this petty devil

                                  So haughty, reckless and uncivil

                                  My bosom whispered “Are you not

                                  A worm in past ? Have you so soon forgot ?

       

                  6)           “The same spirit dwells in her and in your heart 

                                 Give up your worthless and cruel thoughts ;

                                 Is she a  crocodile to catch you with her jaws

                                 Is she a tiger to tear you with her claws ?

                               

                  7)            Is she a viper or scorpion with a deadly sting

                                 A miserable end for you to bring?

                                Your wretched broom how can you fling

                                To kill such a harmless pretty thing?

                   8)          Her origins too old beyond your trace

                                Her species will outlive your human race ;

                                Nature’s purpose you find in their existence

                                Be not in haste ; use your intelligence.

  

                   9)          Be not a savage who mercilessly kills

                                To show his rugged strength and hunting skills ;

                                Neat and tidy your surroundings maintain

                                No fleas will come then, you need not complain.

                                      

                   10)        To kill or not to kill my mind began to swing

                                Like a bat in gloom groping on wing

                                She slipped from my finger tips at once

                                AS I stood rattled, a philosophizing dunce.

                                

 Note :  In this poem written in a lighter vein, it is suggestive of need for cleanliness of surroundings. Just going on a killing spree will not put an end to our common problems.

           The cockroach is one of the most ancient species born 320 million years ago on this earth. There are nearly 4,500 kinds of species called Blattodea. They are the most adaptive creatures to climate changes. They can survive in Arctic cold and in hottest regions as well. They can survive without food for one month and without breathing air for 45 minutes. Some scientists say that in the event of nuclear war , the only surviving creatures will be cockroaches.

       Ref : nymph = a mythlogical spirit residing in water, and forests.     

                   = a young immature insect with undeveloped wings. 

           Philosophising = think about abstract ideals

                       

****************                           

                   

         12th April, 2017                           Somaseshu Gutala

Poems written to celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday

                                                                                                                           

                     With passing years wisdom ripened in you

                You treated each and every moment with cheer

                With balanced mind and vision clear ;

                With earnest efforts and attention due ;

                Your bonds of love you ever tried to renew

                Encouraging young minds with guidance clear;

                Motivating them to act without any fear;

                With positive thoughts and humane views;

                Though Time flies fast you never felt too old

                Ever energetic you spend your days

                Updating knowledge in ways manifold;

                With changing trends you ever kept your pace;

                No trace of envy and greed entered your heart;

             We wish you happy time, good health and noble thoughts.

(Wishing you many more happy and peaceful years of life) 

   1st April, 2017                                                      Somaseshu Gutala

            

                                                                                                                                     

                                                  

           You are our strength and main support

           Maintaining with all good rapport;

           You help all in every hour of need

           In giving good guidance you always lead

           To be happy and see others happy, your creed

           You are a noble and lovable person indeed;

     We wish you long life with good health and peace

           Our humble regards to you, accept please.

                   

          (Wishing you many happy returns of the day)

         1st April, 2017                  Valli  Sarada Gutala


        ******************************************