1)
From reproach of any kind
None are really quite immune,
Some strategy must lie behind
The sweet success of fortune.

Simplicity has not paid
For one and all in the past,
Neither has prosperity stayed
Uniformly to the last.

2)
The banyan seed albeit small
Sprouts and spreads to a tree tall;
Likewise the good shall merit
From small gifts they inherit.

3)
In a friendship that we cherish
If indeed we find a blemish;
Agitate not or dwell and brood,
Bear with the fault in solitude;

For like leaves in flowers ever so nice
Or the brown husk in a grain of rice;
Like the fuming foam of the raging sea
There are flaws natural to you and me.

Rajeshwari Iyer lives in Brampton, Ontario and teaches Chemistry at the College/University level in Toronto. She is the mother of a special needs child and enjoys reading, music and travel. She has contributed poems to SAWF (South Asian Women's Forum), Magazines such as KALA, Marina, quarterly publications based in Toronto. She has also contributed to e-zines such as Poetry.com, Thinnai, and Tamilonline.