Stinginess approved

Be stingy be tightfisted with your life.

Own the journey. Survive the strife

Each ethos charted with head held high

Each breath accounted for when you die

 

Be stingy be ungenerous with your scruples

Own your faith. With belief and love bliss quadruples

Each tenet you subscribe must be applied

Let the epitome of truth and justice be your guide

 

Be stingy be sparing with the words bespoken

Own your responses. Each word is a token

Of your character and credence. Your attitude and action

Spoken word has repercussion practice precaution

 

Be charitable with your material possessions

Own your generosity. Imprint the correct impressions

Wealth is transient. It won’t accompany in the grave

What you give away will earn you more than you gave

 

Be big-hearted with your feelings and grudges

Own your compassion. Forgive the prods and nudges

When you let go you actually set yourself free

Extra baggage always comes with a very hefty fee

 

 

Care approved

Care cuts deep it seeps into the soul

you can never again become one whole

a part of you is given away unwittingly

you can watch yourself agonize consciously

 

When grief is revealed only by the eyes

when the smile on the face so often belies

the feeling within the spirit keeps on trying

to face truth in the face while continually lying

 

When the care bestowed remains unrequited

the heart still does not feel hurt or slighted

it slices across veneers of physical proximity

like the presence of divinity in a Sufi’s propinquity

 

Not one person perceives it so silently it bleeds

not one emotion out of place so dutifully it heeds

just one look one word one effort of reciprocation

can revive dead life-force without resuscitation

 

 

 

 

Inaction approved

Sometimes what you see may not be the truth

Sometimes eyes can deceive proofs can be uncouth

So keep your observation in check and double-check

Why invite trepidation by sticking out your neck

 

Sometimes what you hear may be sheer hearsay

Sometimes ears cannot decode words are at play

So keep your disposition dispassionate

Until you verify news and views accurate

 

Sometimes what you say may have adverse impact

Sometimes the tongue can cut loose ignoring tact

So keep your desire to express tractable

Your language gentle and words retractable

 

Sometimes you may jump to conclusions hastily

Sometimes you become judgmental verily

So keep your intellect handy and verdicts tame

Inactivity is healthier than passing on the blame

 

 

 

Distances approved

Sometimes when you become very close

With friends and kinfolk conversation flows

Uninhibitedly. Emotions lean towards verbose

Remember there is a line not to be crossed

The right balance requires nothing is in overdose

 

Sometimes societal pressures push you gently

Towards doing things against your wishes. You mentally

Disagree. You cannot express yet want out eventually

Remember waiting in the wings is wasteful time

You might find yourself lingering in life perpetually

 

Sometimes someone may inadvertently play a role

Of giving advice that soothes your anger but injures the soul

Take a deep breath and think before you act. Your goal

Is to move on in life. Not hold on to hatreds and grudges

On hindsight satisfaction in letting go and forgiving is tenfold

 

Keeping distances from doubtful unscrupulous stuff

Keeping toxic peoples at arm’s length can be rough

You don’t know what is overboard and what is enough

Keep seeking good counsel. Keep conscience by your side

The tough keep going even when the going gets tough

 

 

 

 

 

Errors approved

I was quick to judge a wrong done unto me

And dismiss off the act as malicious as it could be

Until one day I realized it is not always so

The frenemy does not even bother to crosscheck and go

They were actually in the midst of their own little battles

And in the bargain ended up indulging in useless tattles

 

I was under the impression that the public at large

Tends towards a tendency to push shove and barge

When their own interests are at sea and in danger

I would scuttle back in my world and hide in my manger

Until one day I realized they are rudderless as well

There is so much pretense going around it is hard to tell

 

I was always afraid of so much – brashness belief opinion

In front of crowds I felt like an inconsequential minion

Until I realized the error of my ways and thinking

For confidence enough to look in the eye without blinking

I must search strength within not look for backing outside

I must trust my own findings putting public opinion aside

 

Missteps are a process not necessarily wrong or right

The idea is to correct them not be ready to pick up a fight

Whether I offended someone or someone pulled off a con

I must be prepared to apologize and move on

In between breathing oxygen and breathing out CO2

Life teaches you how mistakes can be worthwhile too

 

My search

I am not looking for honesty in everyone I meet

I am not seeking integrity in anyone I greet

I am cultivating determination to look beyond fault

I am leaving behind tall expectations in my safe vault

 

I am not looking for candor in every friend I make

I am not seeking ingenuity in relationships for the sake

I am fostering a nature wherein I offer forthrightness

I am looking at my own life reflecting openness

 

I am not looking for impartiality in every of my dealings

I am not seeking empathy or reciprocation of feelings

I am attempting to be the person I am looking for

I am wanting to effect basic goodness at my core

 

I am not looking for epitomes of rightness and perfection

I am not seeking archetypes of sensitivity and affection

I am building immunity to heartbreaks and disappointment

I am consulting my own self nowadays. Only by appointment

 

I am not looking for excellence in every task performed

I am not looking for sympathy for each loss mourned

I am learning to forgive and absolve the world of culpability

I am looking inward to improve my personal capability

 

 

 

 

 

Discerning concerns

 

Some people have beliefs. Some believe otherwise

Some people wear it on their sleeves. Some others are wise

 

Some people like to think themselves as pure and pious

Treading on precarious trajectory promoting their bias

 

Some people deem their knowledge as far superior

Tossing humility out of the window they preach like a seer

 

Some people feel position and power effects entitlement

Forgetting to be honest and just, a primary requirement

 

Some people broadcast their views and get you by the goat

Fancying their opinions flawless thrusting it down your throat

 

Some people flaunt the faith card fostering schisms deep

Overlooking a simple adage as you sow so shall you reap

 

Some people take stupidity to quite another level

Stooping in self-admiration mouth unclosed IQ unraveled

 

No. no, I am not depreciating disparaging or denouncing

It’s for those people to take note, I am simply pronouncing

 

Some people are born leaders. They need no proclamation

Some people live in delusion and add to the confusion

 

It is for the discerning mind to learn to spot the difference

Which act not to follow and where to display deference

Unlimited bounty

Every morning when I open my eyes

Hope. Trepidation. New dreams to comprise

One more day has been added to my platter

Each breath filled with gratefulness is all that should matter

 

When I look about at the misery around me

Some visible scars, some hidden hurt surrounds me

One less welt makes my burden lighter

My shoulders are frail I am no fighter

 

Presently I realize I have little to complain

So much of my complaining is in vain

One moment of happiness is worth its weight in gold

An amazing journey so far, just envisage what will unfold

 

His giving is limitless it’s my brashness that binds me

His ways are soft and silent yet His abundances find me

One wrong step I take in any direction

He smiles and forgives and prepares my resurrection

 

Whether I say yes or no, whether or not I deserve

What is destined for me is always kept in reserve

One small speck on the little blue dot is looked after

Now if I don’t return the favor, I could not be dafter

 

So every morning when I open my eyes and see

The profusion of all that I have been given I agree

One word of gratitude for the life I have inherited

How does one ever recompense blessings unmerited?

Enough

I have enough day dreams to sustain me today

Tomorrow will be another day

I will go looking for some new ideas & escapes

I will get myself some new outfits with capes

 

I have enough laughter to delight me for now

Tomorrow will be two days in a row

I will go looking for some high-spirited attitudes

I will swipe a rainbow across longitudes & latitudes

 

I have enough attitude to defy challenges

Tomorrow will be ready for changes

I will go looking for some power and some prayer

I will draw fresh lines in my hand & confront the soothsayer

I have enough shimmering stars to fill up my skies

Tomorrow will be more than I surmise

I will go looking for the duskier galaxies

I will lend them some of my sparkle-filled pixies

 

I have enough sun in my eyes to light up the way

Tomorrow will be chockfull with one more ray

I will go looking for those waiting on twilight zone

I will distribute the rays of hope on loan

 

 

Wisdom

A little more giving for everyone

A little more forgiving for a wrong done

I don’t know whether it is time or age

But experience has certainly made me sage

 

A little more empathy can go very far

A little more compassion is need of the hour

I know it is easier said than done

But if it was easy where is the fun?

 

A little more learning of brand new skills

A little more rising above run-of-the-mills

I try to balance tradition with trend

But I have ways which I have to mend

 

A little more thinking before speaking up

A little more useful a little less gupshup

I need not attempt to be God of small things

But it gives me a high even if I can’t grow wings

 

A little more love to keep the conscience clear

A little more courage to keep away all fear

I get intimidated by expectations of societies

But I must learn to defend my personal priorities