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Tom Kottackal Poem
HE STRUGGLE
Heated walls Suffocating air
Warm bed sheets
Soft, steaming pillow.
Prickly heat, Trickling sweat
Crossed midnight, exhausted body
The cock’s crow disturbed my rest
Need to rush to the field ,
For the day’s bread.
That’s the life of a poor man.
The rich have a life
Just contrary to it. How do you feel?
They hold one, a pot-belly.
Beer and whisky
Fatty special for a bulky body
Persecute the vehicle,
They often travel
Unlimited consumption
Air-conditioned bed rooms
Soft beds with fitting companions
Rich and poor, you need
Only six feet of soil.
What do you say?
Copyright © Tom Kottackal | Year Posted 2020
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Tom Kottackal Poem
THE GREAT CROSSING
Moses communicated to Pharaoh God’s message,
“Let my people go to the desert that
They may worship me and celebrate.”
Plagues nine from God, Pharaoh deceived nine times
The tenth was a consecration of the firstborn.
The Life of Pharaoh’s only son separated.
Pharaoh let Israel go for their worship
Israel, a vast nation, may call her.
‘The holy nation’ chosen by God
Reached the shore of the sea of reeds.
Pharaoh and his Army followed to repossess them,
The people saw the Dead Sea in front of them
And their enemy with weapons behind them.
In horror, they watched it, and in anger they grumbled
Against Moses and God, who brought them out of Egypt.
God’s command came to Moses
Before the frightened and hopeless Israelites.
Moses obeyed the Lord’s Instructions
To stretch out his staff over the Dead Sea.
They with their eyes saw the water parting
To create a dry land in the sea.
They watched the wall of water very high
On their left and right, as they walked across.
Every Israel crossed the sea on dry ground victoriously,
After that they saw the enemies perishing in the mid-sea.
Their trust in their Creator God filled them with joy
Sign of a mighty group healing, faith brings healing.
Copyright © Tom Kottackal | Year Posted 2020
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Tom Kottackal Poem
The Pearl from the coal mines
The wonderful age of thirty is Sathyaprakash,
He’s a vegetable vendor with a pushcart,
At the end of the day, as the Sun is setting ,
He returns home to join his parents.
Yes, he listens carefully once again.
And confirms the crying is of a human baby.
Stopping his cart, he rushes to the bush nearby
His heart melts when he sees a tiny girl,
In the heap of garbage of all kinds.
A heartless woman must have left her to die;
he takes her home.
On receiving the warmth of his chest
She becomes calm and holds him tight in security.
‘Bachelor am I, I’ll take care of this precious gift’,
He says to himself and gives her a name
‘Surya’, meaning the Sun that gives light.
Sacrifices his own life
For his beloved pearl, from the coal mines.
He watched her growing day by day,
Like you watch a tender plant growing,
He cares for her every need as his own daughter.
As she reaches grade seven, he realizes
His gem is a super intelligent power.
He slogs hard, even sacrifices nutritious food
So, she gets excellent food and clothing.
His life has become only to fulfill
All her wishes, and for her to reach
To whatever stage she wants.
When they award her a gold medal ,
For achieving first in the university
For her Master’s degree, she has a wish.
She completes all the exams
Under the Public Service Commission.
Her wish thus fulfills and her brilliant mind
Brings her that great gift through
An appointment as an Income Tax Commissioner.
She shines as the most committed
And honest officer, Sathyaprakash, her dad
Remains as a vegetable vendor with his cart.
Her heart breaks when she thinks
Dad has sacrificed his life for fulfilling her wishes
One day she said, Dad, you take rest, now I take
Care of you. No, my child, I’ve been a vegetable vendor.
Copyright © Tom Kottackal | Year Posted 2020
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Tom Kottackal Poem
Please listen to what the Neonatologist speaks to you.
When you poke the unborn for blood work,
The babies wrinkle up their faces, kick their feet,
Clench their hands into tiny fists, curl their toes,
Arch their backs and try to wriggle away, or
Smack at the offending person. Oh, you parents,
Don’t you have blood in your eyes?
Are your hearts hardened like a rock?
And so you feel nothing.
Can you sacrifice your life for your child?
“Unless the grain falls and decays, you cannot have a new life.”
My brothers and sisters, preserve the sanctity of your marriage.
Recognize, there is a fire in you, ablaze it,
So the world can receive its brightness.
Please listen to what the Neonatologist speaks to you.
When you poke them for blood work,
The babies wrinkle up their faces, kick their feet,
Clench their hands into tiny fists, curl their toes,
Arch their backs and try to wriggle away, or
Smack at the offending person. Oh, you parents,
Don’t you have blood in your eyes?
Are your hearts hardened like a rock?
And so you feel nothing.
Can you sacrifice your life for your child?
“Unless the grain falls and decays, you cannot have a new life.”
My brothers and sisters, preserve the sanctity of your marriage.
Recognize, there is a fire in you, ablaze it,
So the world can receive its brightness.
Copyright © Tom Kottackal | Year Posted 2020
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Tom Kottackal Poem
THE SCAR
It was time to introduce myself
To the school for learning.
They dragged me against my wish,
I cried, yelled and rebelled,
For separating me from my mom
Whom I loved so much.
In the master's house,
Squatting on the rough veranda,
Along with forty other little ones
That was really a chocking up experience.
The first day I spent the time crying.
On the second day, the master
Came and squatted before me.
He took my right pointer finger
To write the first Malayalam letter ‘Ah’,
I refused to follow him
He refused to leave me alone.
Repeated his work and
I continued my crying.
‘Red ink’ appeared on my
Pointer finger, I screamed louder.
The following day the master
Took my injured right pointer
Kissed it and told me not to use it
Till it got healed well.
Things got accustomed to me,
The master loved me so much,
I responded through my hard study.
All loved me, and I experienced it
In return, I gave them my company
Joyful learning with cordial friendship.
One black queen loved me so much,
Her look tickled my heart,
My eyes always searched for her.
I considered her as my best friend.
Months passed, ready for class one.
With all companions, boys and girls
Returning home at the end of the day
I lost control, wet my trousers and stinking,
The black queen, seeing it, burst into laughter
The rest followed, closing their noses,
Humiliation and helplessness pulled me down.
Learned, that she was not a best friend, but an enemy.
Dragging my legs went home in shame.
Seeing me in that state, my mom
Hugged and kissed me, took me to the bath
Bathed me, powdered, and dressed me up
Smart, handsome, young master.
That prompted me to become a Master.
Copyright © Tom Kottackal | Year Posted 2020
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Tom Kottackal Poem
CHRISTMAS LETTER TO MY ETERNAL FATHER
My Eternal Father,
I want you to know that I’m aware of
Why we celebrate Christmas, we caused it.
It’s born out of your limitless love for us.
You created everything out of nothing,
You brought order to what was in disorder.
You judged your creation, and said, ‘it’s good’
It was magnificent.
You wished to keep that order permanent,
So, you created human beings to preserve that order
The human beings destroyed it instead,
And even your image and likeness, you gave them.
They created their own order, rejecting
You and your established order.
Their lustful eyes chose what they liked
Till it reached the murder of his own brother.
Disturbed-order produced natural calamities
And Babel experiences of all sorts.
Human beings were your greatest creation,
You created them little less than the angels.
Even after destroying the order, you still loved them.
You wanted to redeem them through human beings,
So you initiated Noah, Abraham, Israel, and so forth.
When it was impossible to save them
You sent your only Son to take a human form,
To speak to human beings through a human being.
That Son took birth through a virgin called Mary.
As the poorest of the poor, in a manger, to die on a Cross.
That birthday of your Son we call Christmas.
I know,
Christmas is not buying and selling products,
Christmas is not buying toys and dolls, cakes and turkeys
Christmas is a relationship between Jesus and me.
Father, my Abba, forgive us, we have gone far away
Give us prudence and spiritual wisdom to perceive
This great truth and embrace your Son for our deliverance.
Papa, it's the crying need of us all to experience a sense of sin
And committed repentance to come closer to you.
Papa, thank you for one very important thing
Your Son and my God did for us all.
He changed the mere bread and wine into His body and blood.
Before that miracle He told us, whoever has seen him has seen
His Abba, you, my Abba. You are in him and he is in you.
And your spirit is with you, that means in the Blessed sacrament
You’re present permanently, wonderful, you’re with us, thank you.
Begging for your mercy and compassion, I remain.
Your own son,
Tom Kottackal
Copyright © Tom Kottackal | Year Posted 2020
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Tom Kottackal Poem
YOUR SOUL IN 2020
My soul sings the glory of God
When I look back the entire year,
I can see how my soul experienced life
The agonies and rejoicings give my soul
A reason to praise and glorify its Creator.
Evoking experiences of God’s touch
Uncountable beyond intellect’s understanding.
My soul agonized when the doctors opened my heart
For a transplant of the valve
In three days, my soul rejoiced at the touch of the Light,
The Light transformed my formation
My new formation taught me to be ever grateful.
When the speeding car came from behind the bus,
While crossing the city road, His wisdom
Made me run forward on the road instead of crossing,
So the speeding car’s driver could put a break
So, I’m here to tell you who the Light is.
The agony of my soul, uncountable,
In the school of such experiences,
My soul learned to glorify God nonstop.
Today, it’s automatic to look at life and people,
All God's wonderful creation, to help each other.
My soul sings the glory of God,
How I wish all understand this secret of happiness.
Copyright © Tom Kottackal | Year Posted 2020
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Tom Kottackal Poem
PEN A PANTOUM POETRY
Reminding Spanish flu Pandemic 1918
COVID-19 reigns over the entire world.
Everyone likes it to be free of it,
And to start life all over again.
It has done great wonders in the world,
People who kept away from family,
Forced to join them, to turn to family life.
Crimes multiplying daily has come down slightly.
People lost job, sufferings and deaths,
Multiplied, bringing untold life crisis.
Hearts started moving towards the Creator
Whom they threw out from their hearts and Institutions.
The Creator created us to be with Him,
To enjoy his power of peace and joy,
Maddening search for money and wealth
Caused hearts separate from each other and God,
The more hearts separate from each other and God,
The more evil penetrates the hearts of people and society.
God’s heart pains at such crimes prevalent in the society.
God doesn’t want any human being to lose to His enemy, Satan.
His compassionate heart wants to embrace all.
So, He allowed the natural entry of COVID-19.
It’s doing its round to all who got separated -
From their Creator, the easy victims.
Copyright © Tom Kottackal | Year Posted 2020
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Tom Kottackal Poem
THE LIGHT
Let there be light and there was light
That light can dispel darkness
But that light come from the Light, the Creator.
This Light can dispel the darkness of despair
This Light penetrates the rocky hearts
To make it a heart of love and compassion
Compassion and love heal the broken-hearted
The Light is in compassion and love.
This Light clears the clouds of doubts
This Light straightens the crooked
This Light straightens all diversions
Smoothens the long journey.
This Light heals the sick
This Light brings the divided hearts together
Because when hearts separate, sin enters
When hearts unite, sin goes out,
The Light can shine out then.
This Light gives the terminal patients
A hope to reach the Light.
This Light helps the medical persons
Work hard, tirelessly, spilling the rays of the Light.
Copyright © Tom Kottackal | Year Posted 2020
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