Love's Labor

We shall blossom forever in the garden of love.
The raging sea will meditate still as we gently,
gently fly into the horizon as turtle-dove.

Our weary hands pulled rickshaws with a heave and shove.
Rain poured, gutters overflowed, so we prayed fervently,
we shall blossom forever in the garden of love.

Our coolie heads hurt, the sun boiled like kerosene-stove
in Calcutta's streets. Still, we resolved intently
to fly into the horizon as turtle-dove.

Then fatal disease struck. Almighty from up above
took our children. Deluded, yet, hoped silently,
we shall blossom forever in the garden of love.

When almost all was lost, fate smiled on us and wove
its spell Mother Teresa benevolently 
bid us fly into the horizon as turtle-dove.

Miseries past, now treated as princely treasure-trove,
weeping with ecstasy, glowing confidently,
we shall blossom forever in the garden of love
and fly into the horizon as turtle dove.

Paddy Raghunathan's Questions:

Is the story of the poverty stricken worker captured well enough?

Is the mere mention of Mother Teresa enough, as I have done?

Should something be said of her work to clarify matters?

Is the flow and the logic of the poem maintained?

Are there words that don't seem right and could be changed/removed? In other words, does the poem seem contrived?

Does content triumph over form?

This is the first formal poem I have attempted.

Thanks,