A Prayer's No Piece Of Art Poem by Aniruddha Pathak

Be frank and free, if ye feel lost, alone,
I shall be thine moving shadow for life,
I'll bathe, groom thee, soothe if tired be the bone,
Let me pick lice from hirsute hair so rife,
A shepherd prayed, feelings pouring from heart,
That Moses felt profane, loathsome apart.

No need, Moses, proper prayer to preach,
I've sent thee, God said, to meet devotees,
Build bridges that easy to me they reach,
Mere words make no worship, nor build bridges;
So, turn not my followers to machines,
Nor make prayers pontiffs' pompous routines.

A prayer that flows not from feeling heart
To ritual turns, a hollow piece of art.
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An unlettered shepherd, a simpleton, knew no proper prayer, and would use absurd words, rather profane, as if talking to God. Moses who was passing by heard him while he was praying, and scolded him for using such sacrilegious words for God, and taught him a proper prayer. The shepherd then on prayed mechanically hardly understanding the meaning, the prayer a mere motion of lips devoid of emotions. It was then Moses' turn to get scolded by God for robbing His true devotee of love and emotion.
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Sonnets | 01.11.10 |