Bible related poems by Dileep Jhaveri

For my Great grand Child: Gospel of Nemesis

Let not your head be troubled. He who believes in us believes not in us but in what his inheritance will be.

We reaped what our fathers had sown, so that you shall reap what we sow. We did not come to save the world but to make it abundant for lords and kings and heavens to behold it. For man does not live by bread alone. Either make the house small and its roof low or make the house big and its roof high, for the house is known by the number of storeys it has. Therefore out of richness of the treasure the tongue speaks.

Generations preceding us had left us coffers emptied by wars and filled with epics of glories of the heroes who won. Our inheritance was visionaries, tyrants, brood of vipers, martyred saints, revolutionaries and mindless mobs. To us it had been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of earth. Blessed were our eyes for they saw and our ears that heard. And the freedom was like a grain of mustard seed. It is the smallest of all seeds. But when it is grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree. So that the birds of thought, speech and action come and make nests in its branches.

And as for the truths we believed not in what the prophets said but what the great throngs decided by democratic vote. For who does not gather with majority scatters. And who is against majority the majority is against him. And whoever did the will of the crowd was a brother and son of the kingdom. For if a king has hundred horses and one of them went astray he does not leave ninety nine in the meadows to search for one.

Now open your eyes and hear what we say.

For the seafarer does not bring from his voyage a handful of fish but the fat of whales and flesh of dolphins he has caught.

And the wanderer from the forest does not bring just leaves and flowers and fruits that he has plucked but sturdy cedar and teak and finest sandalwood and balsam and benzoin. With these he decorates his house and keeps it fragrant.

Now as a feast is prepared for the bridegroom and gifts are gathered for the prince we bequeath to you this mighty wealth.

Look at the steel in every construction and marvel its strength that surpasses wood and mud and grass and stone. And there is plastic which moulds any which way and lasts forever and like Phoenix rises again and again for it can never be destroyed. Lucifer stole light and lord banished him to the underworld. Prometheus pilfered fire and eagle feasted on the liver of his immortal belly. But we have created electricity from the liver of the underworld. For the sun shines only in the day and the night steals him and we make the darkest night into day even when the pale light of the moon fails. Again the sun makes the earth hot but our electricity cools it. When the North wind sends cold shivers to the earth we keep it warm with our electricity. We have split atom to surrender its energy and buried the devils let loose from it in the deep bowels of the earth. After drinking the waters of deep wells of our fathers we fell thirsty again but after drinking the waters that we made nobody will be thirsty again and there will be no waters left.

And can the gains of sand on the shores of the seas be counted, and can the stars in the sky be summed up? We have worked wonders greater than the desert specks and further than the drops in the clouds. We have put all our knowledge of mastering Nature in microchips that are much smaller than the mustard seed. These will be your prophets. And they will bear testimony that is much greater than these few wonders we have shown you. And likewise greater works that all we have made will be known by those who lift their eyes and honour the bounty that we have endowed. Because the harvest is ready. Anyone who believes that will reap. And he who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life. So that the sower and reaper will rejoice together.

And we have assured that you will be born even if the earth is barren. And for that we have frozen embryos of our mothers and sisters and wives and virgins.

Now that you know that you shall be born ask not to know of the birds and flowers and grass and stars.

As for the birds and such

Birds have feathers so they fly away.

Flowers have colours that will fade away.

Grass will wither.

And the starry sky like a king with ninety nine horses will not search for the one that is lost.

The book of Genesis

The earth was fire without form and end.

And God said “Let there be snow “and there was snow and God saw that the snow was no good. And God set fire on the snow. And the waters were separated from the firmament and gathered together into one place. And the waters that were gathered God called Seas. And God said “Let the waters bring forth swarms of monstrous creatures that fly above the earth across the firmament of the heavens”. And the creatures that could not move, God set them as mountains on which he put forth vegetation and plants according to their kinds. God said “Let the earth bring forth worms that creep, insects that throng, beasts that crawl, leap and walk and cattle that stampede each according to their kind.” And God saw that it was good. The mountains stood guard over the monsters of deep that ate fire. And God gave water to the thirsty, grain to the birds, grass to the cattle, worms to the insects and toads to the vipers. God had not created seasons and day and night. So it was always dark.

God finished the work which he had done and he blessed everything he had made and behold, it was very good. He rested from his work and blessed the world.

But every plant yielding seed and every tree with seed in its fruit and everything that creeps on the earth and every bird of the air and everything that has the breath of life did not rest. For God had said “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.”Because there was no day or night and no seasons and Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth only a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.

And Lord God woke up from his rest and said “It is still dark and I desire to see what work is done and also how do we look.” And God said “Let there be light.” And there was light. And God saw what all the work he had done was doing and blessed it. But he could not see himself. He recalled the snow and ordered the snow to become a mirror. God saw his image in the mirror and blessed the snow. From the snow he shaped a woman who was of different shape from earlier monsters. God made her in image of himself. He breathed into her cold nostrils the breath of life. And God planted a garden in the waters of the sea. The Lord God put the woman in the garden to tend it and keep it, And the Lord God commanded the woman saying “You are Aphrodite and you may eat of every tree in the garden but the tree of knowledge of past, present and future you shall not eat, for in the day you eat of it you shall forget me.”

Then the Lord God said “It is not good that the woman should be alone. I will make for her a consort who is weaker than her to obey her.” So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on her and while she slept took a hair from her middle part and breathed life into it and from the curly hair he made a man and brought him to the woman. Then Aphrodite in her dream said “This is hair of my mons veneris and my flesh to fill my flesh. He shall be called Ares because he was made of my hair.”

Now this Ares was a fearsome man and very hairy. Whole day Aphrodite plucked fruits that he ate. Whole day Aphrodite netted fish that he ate. Whole day Aphrodite hunted beasts that he ate. Whole day Aphrodite snared birds that he ate. Whole day Aphrodite fetched water which he drank. At night he filled her hairy middle belly with the only tool he had rising from his thighs.

One day Aphrodite saw a monkey stealing fruits from her garden and she was verily afraid. She showed him to Ares and commanded to punish him. Ares tied the monkey in a net of golden hair to the tree of knowledge. Then they forgot about him. The monkey was hungry and from a bough of the tree of knowledge a ripe fruit was hanging. The snake that was his tail hissed and tempted him to eat of it. Soon he had knowledge of past, present and future.

With his knowledge he freed his self from the knots of the net and forgot about God. When God was walking he saw him leap around hiding his shameful tail. Lord God was mightily angry and told the monkey “You have eaten of the fruit that I commanded Aphrodite and Ares not to eat. Now you have the knowledge and shall no more be a monkey. You shall become a mortal that shines in the day and labours at night. You shall be a man and I will call you Hephaestus. You shall now eat bread of your toil and water of your tears. And your tail that is a snake you shall lose. It shall live in hole and eat air and dust. And because immortal Aphrodite and Ares had bound you they will forever bind you to lust and war. You and your progeny shall always live to fornicate and fight. And the Garden of Eden shall be closed for you forever and I will forget you.”

This explains why we are descendents of apes. Now we have made machines and cities and boundaries and roads and automobiles and ships and aeroplanes and spacecrafts and swords and guns and bombs and we fight over venerated Sita and Draupadi, brave Aishah, Deborah, Hippolyte, Irene, Isabella, Tomyris, Zenobia and also Clytemnestra and Helen and Cleopatra and such whores. And to satisfy them we toil for gold, silver, diamonds, silks, spices, soaps, perfumes, chocolates and have invented Viagra.

And as for God the Lord, he has not returned from his Sabbath sleep.

Christmas

Because we abandoned home

for your safe birth

and being constantly on the run

I repented

that I could not provide you

simple comforts like any mother

To make up for all that you missed

I worked in my small ways

Tore off my old soft cotton wraps

To dry after bath your trembling limbs

I would kiss your palms and soles

to make them warm and pink again

I worked needle to thread your small shirts

with turned out seams

so as not to hurt your tender skin

Your father deftly hammered nails in the boards

to make a sitting stool for you

and a tiny table for supper

while you played with scattered wood

crossing a stick with another

Once you started talking

-and took your time before you did-

we could not understand much

of what you said

but the birds would gather at the windows

and the trees elongated their shadows on walls

and flowers sent their searching fragrances

to listen to what you said

Even the grinding stone in the kitchen

turned silent

It is now that we comprehend your words

While you were trying to stitch a garment

for the poor trembling in the cold

and the sinner shivering in the dark

the needle claimed kinship with the nails

and the thread with the thorns

and the pink insisted on turning red

For a mother flowing milk and silent tears

are no different from stammering blood

but what about the father-

a dumb planer of gnarled wild logs

God is coming

God was afraid of Dark

So he screamed for Light

and he found us

before he could think of Eden

which we had abandoned for a ringside seat

to watch the match between Abel and Cain

It is true

God wanted to punish us for the crimes

we were to commit in future

His weapons were crude

earthquakes, volcanoes, glaciers, meteors, cyclones, hurricanes, fire, famines

and yes, the floods of course!

The affectionate floods to fondle and rock the Ark of Noah

For Hindus he was Manu

saved by a swelling fish

he had salvaged

when small

That was God incarnate

combining two myths into one

Manu and Noah and Jonah

But God of dark

had compulsive repetitive disorder

Allowing Noah to carry the male and female and seed of every single specie

he wanted the world to be as it always was

so that he can punish again and again

And having been punished in advance

we have earned the freedom

to sin

It is joy to invent crimes that match the punishments

We have refined upon God’s gross and clumsy primitiveness

We invented evolution

for God’s understanding the difference between

light and life

We have explored earth and waters and sky

We have sent probes in the space

Is there life anywhere else?

We are coming

with our blindfolded God

We demand that you create darkness first

We will send you a manual with a set of instructions

that are copied from what God commanded himself

Get ready

for

God is coming

Father Waiting Outside Labour-Room

I was born close-fisted, empty handed

Traversing in deeps like a roped anchor

battered around, squeezed by recurrent contractions

knocked against rocky ridges

surrounded by deafening cavernous roar

voiceless in a cramped cave

and ultimately pushing through a tight opening

to see light

smeared in mire and blood

I cried out for a reward opening my crushed hands

And what did I get?

Sweets and silks and soapsuds if I smiled when tickled

Milk in the beginning, later insipid water or bitter tonics

or a slap when I cried

Commands to obey

Don’t touch don’t eat don’t move

Dress up for the school write the homework read for the test

No playing outside no touching squirrels no plucking flowers

Wipe your feet shine your shoes comb your hair

Grow up!

Don’t talk big

Don’t you have any sense?

Next time you pull my plaits my big brother will break your hands

Big Brother watches you

What you eat what you speak what you read

While you are jerking off while you are copulating

God will judge you

If you agree to slavery toil for twelve hours

If you want freedom then choose:

There is prison, cross, firing squad, bombing from the air, land-mines

watch your step

watch your language

watch your cholesterol

watch your drinking

watch the fine print

watch the lines in your hands

You are given hands

dig, hammer, sow, reap, push, lift, type

hold on to the bar in crowded bus or train

hold tightly the metal coins, greenbacks, plastic cards

hold your life in your hands

be bold

And fold your hands in prayer

Yes, pray I will

to the meek grass, flimsy dew, faint fragrance, fading sky, flickering stars

full Universe

I wanted to hold the Universe in my hands

and I will

so shall my son

yet to emanate from the manger of the labour-room

The Difference between Devil and God

There is a difference between

God and Devil

Devil constantly contrives to conquer quarters

in human hearts even for a short while

While God rules the entire universe

with its measureless matter as well as infinite space

for all the time

God hardly has a moment to reign in Devil

But Devil is preoccupied eternally with designs to defeat God

What is not even a speck in the telescope of God

under Devil’s microscope it is all

Out of a fleeting impulse

God created earth, waters, plants, birds, flowers, fish, beasts and man

within six days

and left all to be ruled by fire, floods, famines, wars, plagues

And forgot it

to pay attention to the governing of galaxies and intergalactic spaces

filled with supernovas, comets, starry clouds, radiation, dark holes and such pressing matters

Devil worked in countless ways

to convert the creation into a carnival of cardinal and carnal sins

With his innumerable advanced instruments

God restlessly observes and rectifies the structure of every individual atom

and controls it just as He does trillions of unique constellations

Devil has the leisure

to administer the primitive mind

on which he operates with equally obsolete equipments

Engaging the eyes with curves and colours

Playing on the pinnae of the ears

with whispering, cooing and climactic incoherence

Surprising the skin with smooth and soft succulence

Teasing the nostrils with aroma of erotically excited armpits

mint flavoured gums, crisp roasts cured in paste of cloves, cardamom, cinnamon

fresh smell of ink and glossy paper of proscribed volumes of lascivious pictures

and stale lingerie of intrepid teeny boppers

Tantalising the tongue with never-ending tastes

and vacuous words of whopper

Because of amnesia and insomnia

Devil does not know when to stop

God keeps count of every particle and what transpires within

compelling each to follow the order of His eternal commandments

He allows the freedom to combine, split, modify and multiply

Devil has fewer subjects to command

scattered and gullible

To gather them he allures all for adventures

to climb mountains, leap over precipices, cross deserts, forage forests

swim in the rivers of woe, hate, forgetfulness, wailing and fire

that are variously called Gahanna, Ifing or Vaitarini

and sail over the seven seas

with false promises

of Utopia and Evolution

Added comments by Dileep Jhaveri (21.9.2012)

"About reading Bible and things European, western etc. Many of us have read beyond India, our time and our profession of poetry.In the two poems of Bible it was interesting for me to employ the possibility of differing languages of old and new testament. Old testament is narration with authoritative tone and is full of commands and cruelty also. Man is treated as listener and past predominates. The new testament repeatedly engages the listener in conversation, particularly in the gospels. It has more images and imagination. Evil is evident here also but the tone is of sympathy even when predicting the doom. Future is an important factor. So, in the first poem you will find new testament addressing the coming generations with emphasis on environment. While the second starts with the creation and past and merger of Greek myths with biblical myths and lore. The emphasis is on lust and war, Venus and Mars. The Christmas poem has resonance from Rilke. In Life of Mary he brought the characters to everyday human level and this demystification enhanced the tragic. Rilke has remained the poetic ideal for me for five decades. He was sensitive enough to put to rest his ebullient poems at the outbreak of the First World War and return to Duino and Orpheus for his vast and quiet personal space."

A first reply

I fully appreciate the further explanation you give below about your interest in the Bible. I find the explanation about the difference between the Old and New Testament very interesting. I have never thought about this before but it is true what you point out. Due to our own education the Bible plays a definite role in terms of the picture dispute: do not make a picture of God, and which plays as well a role in the anger and rage being aroused in the Muslim world since even a caricature violates this principle. But we also know about the picture dispute being a conflict between the Orthodox and the Catholic Church in the 5th century. At that time, the Orthodox Church was becoming ever
more powerful due to its decentralized structure and basing the collection of money on reverance being shown to the icons in even the smallest chapel located at the outer edge of a harbour on a remote island. It is, therefore, a matter of what closes the mind: the image imposed or the need to separate the world of the senses from what is above that magic line after which begins the existence of God but who remains invisible. I tried to capture that dilemma in my poem about Milan where a good friend, the poet Guilio Stocchi, lives quite close to the church containing Leonardo da Vinci's last supper.

The other concern for the Bible and its coarse language has to do with the translation Martin Luther made and thereby formed the German language. Ever since the house of the preacher has become the main source of literature and poetry. But it means at the same time the German language is not a creation by poets but by a religious language which sets the tone. That is why many people are surprised when they hear me speak German with a soft voice. It has to do with the influence
of the English language upon my own way of pronouncing things. I lived for 12 years in Canada and after that for two more years in England before returning to Germany. When working with children once back in my home town, namely Munich, I found myself giving orders instead of
feeling myself into the situation as I would do so in the English language. That made me realize there is more to language and the possibility to paint your own meanings with the sounds you can create to indicate nuances of differences.

Hatto Fischer
21.9.2012

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