Poetry tries to capture life in the most subtle manner, offering interpretations beyond the words of a poet. My guest post explores the link between life and poetry.
Poetry and life seem synonyms to me. The prism of poetry reflects life and its varied colors but the spectrum of life is much wider than poetry, which tries to capture some hues and even drifts into the darker crevices to discover those emotions that lurk on the sidelines, yearning to be embraced. Poetry digs deeper into those sensitivities; it understands the finer nuances of life and offers solace.
How well has Walt Whitman summed up the connection of poetry with life:
“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. So medicine, law, business, engineering… these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love… these are what we stay alive for.” – Walt Whitman
I sat by the shore Watching a woman Swathed by the waves Sometimes completely inundated She sat there frigid.
I knew she was crestfallen Her grief seemed to be raw A lump rose in my throat As I walked towards her She sat there unaware.
I spoke some words of solace To assuage her emotional deluge Her fiery eyes bore through me A scary stony expression of glare Didn’t deter my positivity
I pressed further…share it Say it…feel the words that heal The arrows that sat on her tongue Pierced my heart into smithereens I clutched her hand when she spoke…
Do you know a shooting pain That rises every moment? Do you know how it feels To be asphyxiated every second? Do you know what is loss?
Loss of an only child My only hope, my only star Who went to school to study Bubbling with life cut short by a bullet Is this the price we pay for learning?
Can your words restore my faith? Can your hope bring my son back? Can you assure me no more would be killed? Can your words mitigate the woes Of a single mother?
This poem was written after the deadliest school massacre occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Broward County, Florida on February 14, 2018.
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Inundated by friendly mail I sat, staring at the gale That whooshed through your words It empowered my thoughts And impelled me to soar
Its time to express my gratitude For the inspiration, the poetry, The reflections you shared Even those who just clicked ‘like’ Filled my heart with delight.
As the curtain falls On National Poetry Month I gift two eBooks, as promised To those who spoke in verses While sharing their deliberations
When I published my debut book, ‘Sublime Shadows of Life’ my excitement was at cloud nine and I got some copies printed for friends and family and sent them, even to those friends whom I met occasionally or had not met since school days.
One of my friends who had not been in touch with me for a long time rang me up and asked: ‘Are you okay?’
I replied in affirmative and asked why was she asking.
She had a grim tone and said: ‘Is everything going well in your life?’
I laughed loudly at the tone of my fun-loving friend and asked her what was wrong with her.
She told me that she got alarmed at some of my poems, which talked about oppression and dark moments.
Though I had mentioned in the blurb “I, you, he, we and they are universal symbols, which highlight the fact that happiness is not a destination…” but who reads the introduction!
Authors draw inspiration from life and people around them and many of them agree that they do creep into their stories.
Some of my poems do give a peep into my life. I have written about an incident that moved me deeply. Some of my poems are an emotional outburst; some are inspired from the life of my friends but all of them are not about me.
This one is. I hope you would understand who this pearl is.
Wendy, a spiritual poet, has shared her thoughts about this topic “I have written poems about defining moments in my life. Although at that time, I may not be aware that I am writing about a moment that I would consider life defining. There have certainly been life defining moments that I did not write about at the time, but a reference to the event came much later in life as a line or stanza in a poem, as with my father’s death when I was 19.
Ritu too has written about life defining moments: “I think one of my most poignant poems about my life was the one I wrote one morning, in 10 minutes, about my journey to become a mother…” She has shared that poem with us:
Lisa has shared a poignant poem that she wrote during the difficult moments of her divorce.
PRAIRIE PRISON
Here I sit in my Prairie prison
I have known
Great joy and worse sorrow
Here I sit in my home
Longing for more…
Lisa Thomson
The ocean
And mountain peaks calling
I make this prison home
I look out of my window
While the prairie winds blow
Dust in my eye, pebbles in my soul
Here in my prairie prison
I long for my Ocean boy
The one and only
Yet some ties bind and clasp me
Fastening me to a make believe home
Among wheat fields
Can you blame me?
I bore my children in a prairie home
A landscape so flat
It cannot compare
To my wild, sea salt air
I would be gifting two ebooks of Sublime Shadows Of Life, my debut book to those two readers who write the most poetic answer to all the posts I publish this month – #NationalPoetryMonth. Happy writing!
Thank you for reading this. Please share your valuable reflections, as they are much appreciated.
If you have liked this post, please share it at your favorite social networks.
My love for words dates back to those crazy days of playing word games in school, when we perused our pocket dictionaries to accomplish the challenge of finding new words and guessing the meanings.
Despite those word-challenging games, my vocabulary remained so insignificant that I had to look up simple words like ‘gaunt’ to give the exact meaning to my students.
Can you believe that I have been accused of using difficult words in my poems?
Can you fathom my elation at such a compliment?
It is indeed a compliment for a person who has always struggled with words, who was not that blessed to be surrounded by books as a child, who was always eager to borrow books from the library but had to return them half-read!
My early poetry was very simple.
I had written few lines for my outgoing class:
Wish you love, wish you joy Wish you all that you try Guiding you was my goal Avoiding advice was your role.
Shall I ever forget your faces! Naughty but calm in all cases Sometimes pleasant, sometimes killing Sometimes obstinate, sometimes willing.
I dived into the sea of emotions Floundering around I met poetry She smiled at my naivety But her song soothed my nerves Warbling wistful notes of manumitting Embracing her all-pervasive freedom Effacing nonchalant, noxious attitudes Of those who scoffed at my words I felt an ebullient moment of accomplishment!
Keeping in mind the words of one of my favorite ghazals, written by Nida Fazli…
“Duniya jise kehte hain jadoo ka khillona hai, mil jaye to mitti hai, kho jaye to sona hai” (Urdu) – What we call this world is a mystical toy, as useless as dust if you have it but as precious as gold if you lose it. (translated from Urdu)
The enigma of poetry through the wonder of words is thrilling beyond imagination. I keep landing in new worlds, where horizons keep widening and new mysteries keep unfolding. The quest to know more words continues with the encouragement of all of you, dear readers.
April is celebrated as National Poetry Month here and I am inviting all the poets I know to share their views about poetry. If you are interested in participating, please stay tuned. If you want to share your poetry or want to be my guest, you are welcome to contact me.
Thank you for reading this introductory piece to love for poetry and celebrating National Poetry Month. Please share your valuable reflections, as they are much appreciated.
If you have liked this post, please share it at your favorite social networks.
Image: Sue Vincent
Emotional Shadows 