destruction and emptiness
linger on our venomous will .
scripted rioting with taunting
is meritless
(Weekly Magnetic Poetry Challenge • September 28–October 4, 2026)
Fully-filled pots make little sound,
Half-empty, too noisy are found,
Noble men of knowledge
Show conceit nor raw edge,
The meritless clamour around.
_____________________
Translation |14.10.2024| pot, pride, knowledge, merit
Poet’s note: Sanskrit has thousands of verses of wisdom called Subhashhitam. An empty pot makes too much sound, not the pot full of water. A man of knowledge from a noble family never feels too proud. Only those that lack merit….this ‘words of wisdom’ says. The transliteration of the Sanskrit verse follows:
Sampoorna kumbhah na karoti shabdam,
ardho ghato ghoshham upaiti noonam |
Vidyaa kuleenah na karoti garvam,
gunaih viheenaa bahu jalpayanti ||
With brazen face 'fore You I stand
To plead for Mercy from Your Hand
I'm meritless and don't deserve
The chance to sing Your Praise and serve
In deeds so poor, in thoughts so vain
My self-examinations pained
How can I summon up such nerve? --
The chance to sing Your Praise and serve
The flesh is weak; it's prone to err
So with Your Help and Loving Care
From Goodness' Path let me not swerve
~ The chance to sing Your Praise and serve
December 26, 2019
IN PRAISE OF GOD Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Kim Rodrigues
The more I understand your laws my Lord the more I realize how meritless Man's wisdom is!
© Demetrios Trifiatis
12 May 2017
Poetic Terrorist- flagrant Errorist!
While all I write feels meritless
And all I do seems perilous!
Chalk it up to being careless...
My Heart, my Mind- about to burst!
Born, was I, a Soul accursed...
A million wounds I have nursed
Still I feel always the worse
Send helicopters full of doctors-
Tell me, what is their diagnosis?
Oh! the Tests conclude I'm awkward!
(What a bleak and poor prognosis!)
*Old experimental piece
We all have a tendancy to fade
Becoming marred in a false reflection
An image that pretends though it is us who makes all of the effort
An image false in its merit-
Therefore meritless
Slipping beyond the wonder that supercedes contentment
That borders on allusion and disenfranchisement
Though we want it, wanting it pure
So that soon even its fantasy doesn't exist
So that soon we've faded away into oblivion.
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