Guru Poem by Ramesh Iyengar

Guru
The farmer, leaving his hut
each morning,
carrying a plough is my guru.
Too early to rise.
Too eager to begin his work.
Too industrious to dusk from dawn.
To carve the land, to sow, to water,
to manure, to weed out.
An endless cycle of sweating work,
with shirtless body.

Guided by the sun, seasons
a different crop's calendar, he has.
None he depends upon.
None he looks forward to.
Ever dependent on Mother Earth,
To feed hungry mouths.
The ploughman, my guru.
- - S. Ramesh