I haven’t learnt.
I have understood of aunts and uncles.
I have understood of my cousins,
Nephews and nieces, brothers and sisters,
And my father and mother and at last
My son and daughter. Yet I haven’t learnt.
I love my grandsons and granddaughters.
6.11.2006
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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The Idea of Ancestry
Taped to the wall of my cell are 47 pictures: 47 black
faces: my father, mother, grandmothers (1 dead), grand-
fathers (both dead), brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts,
cousins (1st and 2nd), nieces, and nephews.They stare
across the space at me sprawling on my bunk.I know
their dark eyes, they know mine.I know their style,
they know mine.I am all of them, they are all of me;
they are farmers, I am a thief, I am me, they are thee.
I have at one time or another been in love with my mother,
1 grandmother, 2 sisters, 2 aunts (1 went to the asylum),
and 5 cousins.I am now in love with a 7-yr-old niece
(she sends me letters in large block print, and
her picture is the only one that smiles at me).
I have the same name as 1 grandfather, 3 cousins, 3 nephews,
and 1 uncle. The uncle disappeared when he was 15, just took
off and caught a freight (they say).He's discussed each year
when the family has a reunion, he causes uneasiness in
the clan, he is an empty space.My father's mother, who is 93
and who keeps the Family Bible with everbody's birth dates
(and death dates) in it, always mentions him.There is no
place in her Bible for "whereabouts unknown."
poem by Etheridge Knight
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Guarded from sexual pleasure
My parents, uncles and aunts guarded me,
My brothers, sisters and cousins guarded me,
My husband and his members guarded me,
My colleagues and neigbours guarded me
And my children, nephews and nieces guarded me
Against my pleasure that men could give me.
23.12.2009.
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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To be pitiably old
Besides parents and grand parents,
Aunts and uncles were counted on.
Besides father and mother,
Nephews and nieces were counted on.
Besides brothers and sisters,
Sons and daughters were counted on.
Then their children were contemplated on.
I count days, with no more to be counted on.
20.10.2010
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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All of My Greatest Thanks!
Let my heart speaks to you now, my brothers
Sisters who raised me by the absence of mother
That weaned my childhood's ignorance of death
And of which love I had yet to learn since birth
My mind while it's still unsullied to its buoy
Fields of memories wherein my boyhood a coy
Pieces of right and wrong, like a puzzle to fit
One picture, at the end, you molded me right
Though I envy your children, siblings of my father
You shared all your wisdom as if I am one of yours
To grandpa who stilled me yet all my fears
And grandma who embraced me to be braver
Siblings of my mother you all fed my hunger
Though I know not I was a bee of your shelter
To grandma who taught me the value of sharing
And the diktat of how to wait with patience
Indeed, my heart leaves no one was part of me
Your love that nurtured my growth and pride
But the truth to which I confer my greatest thanks
My father, my eldest sister: the braces of my stand
My wife and my two sons: the sources of my faith
Inspirational friends, cousins, nieces and nephews
Uncles and Aunts, you are all my wings of joy
And to God, this heart has now spoken the truth
poem by Efren Petalver Carranza
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Be a nephew or a niece.
The uncles and the aunts once dear to you,
Now old, might pass their last days at their homes.
You must visit them and spend time with them.
Nephews and nieces would repeat it to you.
15.03.2012
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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Woman threads
Maternal aunts over maternal uncles,
Paternal aunts over paternal uncles,
Sisters over brothers command more affinity.
Relation threads through women routs
13.05.2000, Palakkad
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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Understanding is only misunderstanding
When you say
“I understand”
You simply confess
That you are only trying
To understand
And you affirm
To guard against
Misunderstanding
Though this may not be true
In a technical discussion
This is always true
When attempts are made
To evaluate issues
Pertaining to minds and emotions
Let us admit
We have not understood
Any one and
Any of the thought processes
Associated with any individual
How many of us
Have understood our parents?
How many of us
Have understood our spouses?
How many of us
Have understood our brothers
And sisters?
How many of us
Have understood our sons
And daughters?
How many of us
Have understood our customers,
Employers and employees
Bosses and sub-ordinates
More you are confident
About these understandings
More likely
You have misunderstood them
Do not ever claim
That you have
Understood others
As you now understand
That
Understanding is only
Misunderstanding
poem by Bashyam Narayanan
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I Like My Mother
There's candy
Icecream
Chocalate
Good dreams
And I like my Mother!
Mothers are sweet
Mothers are nice
They help you
Give you good advice
And they make you cookies!
I like my Mother!
I like my Mother!
I like my Mother!
I Like my Mother!
I really
Like
My Mother!
Theres Uncles
Cousins
Sisters
Brothers
Fathe rs
And I like my Mother!
And I pray God
You'll let my Mother live a thousand years
So I don't have to get a job or do anything
And I can just live with my mother!
I like my Mother!
I like my Mother!
I like my Mother!
I like my Mother!
I really
Like
My Mother!
poem by Art Paul Schlosser
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Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes, by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, but only one mother in the whole world.
quote by Kate D. Wiggins
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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They stuck by the children.
His mother and his father's mother
Had not been in talking term for life.
Yet they had no enmity between them.
His mother let her love them, six children,
Which should have softened his grandmother.
Her care for them must have pleased his mother.
They never sat near nor scolded each other.
Yet they could not be in enmity
For both wanted the welfare of the children.
It was she who nursed her in her death bed.
Her own sisters, nephews and nieces fled
As the birds did when the tree turned fruitless.
She felt her guilt and confessed it to her
Who, as blessed, had had a good death later.
13.11.2012
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Love One Another
Everybody needs a little tenderness
Everybody needs a release
From the cell they lock themselves in
Loves the only peace
Everybody needs
Everybody Cries
Everybody Bleeds
Everybody Dies
Everybody Dreams
Everybody Wakes
Everybody makes mistakes
Love one another
Sisters and brothers
Love one another
Love one another
Father and mother
Love one another
Its easier to walk away when youve
Got a wounded pride
When two people stand together
Thats how they heal inside
Try to understand
Open up your heart
A fist is just a hand
It can come apart
Let go of the past, let go of the fight
Forgiving fills the world with light
Love one another
Sisters and brothers
Love one another
Love one another
Father and mother
Love one another
We were given a world so beautiful
A deep ocean, a blue-blue sky
I know we can make it a better place
If only you and I
Love one another
Sisters and brothers
Love one another
Love one another
Father and mother
Love one another
song performed by by Cher
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Fragments
I am the monarch of the Sea,
The ruler of the Queen's Navee,--
When at anchor here I ride,
My bosom swells with pride,
And I snap my fingers at a foeman's taunts.
And so do his sisters, and his cousins, and his aunts
His sisters and his cousins!
Whom he reckons by the dozens,
And his aunts!
'I am the lowliest tar
That sails the water.
And you, proud maiden, are
My captain's daughter.'
'Refrain, audacious tar.
Your suit from pressing;
Remember what you are,
And whom addressing.'
For I am called Little Buttercup,--dear Little Buttercup,
Though I never could tell why;
But still I'm called Buttercup,--poor Little Buttercup,
Sweet Little Buttercup I!
Fair moon, to thee I sing
Bright regent of the heavens;
Say, why is every thing
Either at sixes or at sevens!
He is an Englishman!
For he himself has said it,
And it's greatly to his credit
That he is an Englishman.
poem by Louisa May Alcott
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Family Reunions
I read Bastiat at family reunions,
And I savour the irony.
Uncles and cousins fly across the Atlantic
And aunts and brothers drive from Cork
To talk about recipes and Roy Keane.
I merely go upstairs, close my door,
And study my God-given rights.
poem by Patrick Iliff
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Love (feat. Musiq & K-Fox)
[ad-libs by Musiq & K. Fox]
[Ghostface Killah]
First I loved God, then loved my mother
Love my babies, sisters and brothers
Love my father cos that's my mom's partner
Love my grandmother and my grouchy assed grandfather
Love my aunties on both sides of the family
Uncles, cousins, nieces and nepthews
Mess with my peoples you get stepped to
Love the mother of my children, them girls is special
Love feels good though we stuck in the hood
Love my last album, though the joint went wood
My mans and my enemies, I Love them too
Love God he let me see passed 32
Plus what he gave Wu
I chance to change music just listen, you and I know the truth
Love is essential, to some it's detrimental
Most of you would've use the next person as a rental
[Chorus: Musiq (K. Fox)]
Love, lift us up, (higher) take us higher (high)
Like every ghetto flower (oh Love yeah)
Cos Love, only Love has the heat and the power
And we can never give it up
Love, Love, Love
[Ghostface Killah]
Love life, the ground we walk on
My sickness, it made me strong
My loved ones in Heaven
The ones we lost, to heroin
Malcolm, Martin, and what they still for, the men had it poppin'
Love the sun when rain drops in, cosy night with mom punk in
Love the hell and my struggle
You gotta go through Hell to come out right, Love conquers pain and the puzzle
Funny on how Love could end so subtle
Was it just sex and not really Love for the couple?
Love people, Love the fact when there's a baby bein' born
Like "push girl, come on"
I'm not just sayin' that cos BET's on
We is one, one Love, each one, teach one
[Chorus to fade]
song performed by by Ghostface Killah
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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My parents didn't really understand too much about sport. At that time, we were in a Polish community in the inner city of Chicago, and I was the youngest of a bunch of cousins. Polish families are real big, with cousins and aunts and uncles.
quote by Mike Krzyzewski
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Hands Of A Teacher
Optimism,
Optimism perished from the face of my earth
And then you came along, came along and swept me away,
She kissed me, as we stood on the edge,
The night made the day as we made for the bridge
It started raining hard, and I saw we may live to regret
No I never really understood
No I never really understood why,
Because Ive never been given,
Never been given two tries,
No I never really understood,
Understood why...
Pessimism,
Pessimism perished from the face of my earth,
And then you came along, came along and swept me away,
Did you miss me? did you miss me as we walked
Through the pain, attached the chain so you could
See me again
I started asking myself, did I teach you right?
No I never really understood
No I never really understood why,
Because Ive never been given,
Never been given two tries,
No I never really understood,
Understood why...
Understood why...
You came to me, you broke the bonds,
You set me free
And then the love that you promised me
Came a tumblin tumblin tumblin down
Into my hands...
No I never really understood
No I never really understood why,
Because Ive never been given,
Never been given two tries,
No I never really understood,
Understood why...
So teacher teach me...
song performed by by Live
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Regrets stored
Uncle, aunt and granny,
All poured me love in plenty.
They were gone before I could repay.
There were a great many
Who lent their hands and money.
They were gone before I could repay.
Parents gave me love and blood
And guarded me from any crash.
They were done in benevolent neglect.
Cousins, nieces and nephews,
On whom I showered honey.
Had licked it and slipped away.
There were scattered peers,
Whom I pleased in all spheres.
Ere my asking, they vanished.
Daughter and son were the hopes,
Who too, as grown up, broke their rope
And had no time to repay.
I leave as much creditors
As I have had debtors in my life.
Kindly tally, my Creator.
21.10.97
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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War
War not really sure what Im fighting for
But what I know is I want war no more
We fight and we fight and we fight
Through hell, sleet, day and night
Ive seen mothers, sisters, fathers, and brothers
Ive seen aunts, uncles, cusins and so many others
All sent to this far far away land
Supporting their country with not much pay in hand
They dont do it cause they had to
They do it for all american including you
All the troops really want to know is that you care
Maybe a pat on the back or a thank you here and there
poem by Daniel Chapman
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But in the east the sky was pale and through the gray woods came lanterns with wagons and horses, bringing Grandpa and Grandma and aunts and uncles and cousins.
quote by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I've had aunts and uncles who not only haven't read my books but could hardly believe that I was a writer.
quote by Robert Cormier
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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