634. Mortification Poem by Raman Savithiri

The very helpings you did to your relatives
Will be enough to kindle the fire of jealous
In their ignorant minds to turn them ungrateful
Like changing chameleons and cunning jackals

If you disclose your secrets trusting a friend
Later he may change into a foe and threaten!
If you lean over your kith and kin to unload burdens
They may change into enemies causing more torments

When you enter a house the people live there
May drive you away by asking, ‘Why do come here? ’
When you try a person’s cell after decades during a crisis
‘Why do you call me? ’ he might ask and show his offense

Even you may wish to end your life instead of
Going through all these humiliations for daily bread-loaf
But is there a worse dishonor in the earth to live
Like a walking corpse without realizing ‘who am I? ’