I am pleased to share this glowing review of my poetry by James J. Cudney (the creator of Braxton Campus Mysteries) while I prepare to launch ‘Moments We Love,’ my new poetry book next week.
Tag: poetry
Moments We Love
In this book, my poems focus on love, the magical word that brings along the first blush, the first missed heart-beat and also the first heart-break. Mother Nature smiles as we recline in her lap, inhaling its fragrance, weaving dreams of desire and drenching in the deluge of emotions.
Here is an excerpt from Moments We Love:
If you were rain
Would you drench me
With the deluge of your cascading fall
Inundating my urges?
Would you carry me along
As you flow into streams
Of desire, whetted by torrent
Of yearning of ages?
© Balroop Singh
I am just waiting for my editor’s nod and review.
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Words Bind us in a Strange Bond…
I have never come across a more comprehensive analysis of my poetry. This review of my latest poetry book ‘Timeless Echoes’ at insaneowl.com by Fiza Pathan has enlightened me about my own poems! I am amazed at her interpretations and had to go back to those poems to understand them anew after reading her thoughts about them. I have realized how vague thoughts speak differently to readers, refreshing their own memories!
‘My First Love’ is one such abstract poem, where my love for books is expressed through metaphors but has been construed differently. I am delighted to note that my poetry has been called “therapeutic,” “a soothing balm to the spirit of a poetry lover.”
Though Fiza has copyrighted her review, I take this liberty to quote her:
“These poems are tender, soothing and beautiful, and a must read for all of us poetry lovers stuck on our old memories and times not forgotten. I really think Balroop should go in for poetry therapy because her poems really are like the soothing touch of a grandmother’s gentle hand on a fevered brow.”
Thank you so much Fiza, for your critique. We may be sitting at the extreme corners of the globe but words bind us in a strange bond.
Please click here to read the full review of Timeless Echoes by Fiza Pathan.
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The NEA reports an increased interest in poetry.
Balroop Singh.
Winner of Timeless Echoes
Many thanks to all the readers who have read Dell and Dale and responded to the challenge of guessing who they are. I am humbled by the interpretations of this poem – the best being “soul and ego”… “Soul looked deep and found comfort, love and shared it. Ego looks from high up, and saw a skewed, inaccurate reflection. so he forgot his true nature.” (by Monica Timbal)
I am also deeply touched by the words of Betty: “For me, Dell and Dale represent humility and pride (arrogance)… The theme, decisions and outcomes belong to individuals who make their own choices.”
Bela Johnson understood this poem so well and gave a complete answer to both my questions: “This really reminds me of children, often siblings, who from that same womb can make such divergent choices despite a common upbringing. It clearly speaks, at least to my mind, how we come into this life as different aspects of the One with a different bag of karma to sort out. My mother had seven of us, and said every one of us was completely different. Knowing my siblings, I would say that is true. So it really helped me when observing my own children, each with such unique temperaments.”
Lisa Thomson too came quite close: “Siblings that have taken different paths? One successful and the other one faced too many obstacles and became bitter.”
Congratulations to Bela, an outstanding poet for winning Timeless Echoes.
I wrote Dell and Dale in 2012. When I wrote it, I had siblings in mind. How circumstances and challenges of life change us into different individuals also influenced my thoughts.
I am sharing an excerpt from my latest book:
Revelation
The ink dried on the pages
You left at my desk
Words glare at me
And echo your thoughts…
All that you didn’t say!
Did you say you love me?
How could my arms oppress you?
Was your soft tone a show off?
The sea of your eyes
A delusion?
The ghosts of your journal
Follow me unawares
The embers of your love
Still smolder within me
Smothering my breath out
I carry dead demons of your memory
Looking for a place to bury them.
© Balroop Singh
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Thank you for your support. Please share your valuable reflections, they are much appreciated.
Balroop Singh.
How Poetry Can Inspire and Mold Personalities #NationalPoetryMonth
Poetry reflects life in all its hues; it is the choice of words, which makes a difference to the thoughts and sentiments that poets share. It speaks of countless experiences and puts forward the essence of life, if you pay attention to the images through which poets communicate.
Poetry enables us to understand the finer nuances of life; it nurtures the most beautiful emotions of love, trust, acceptance and empathy. A poet teaches without forcing any philosophy as he just shares his reflections succinctly, leaving the rest to the imagination and understanding of the readers.
Poetry develops creativity, flexibility, interpretational skills and critical ability effortlessly. It makes you intuitive, only if you read it without any prejudices, learn to appreciate it and read it carefully.
Let me share some verses that have enriched my personality:
“What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?”
These lines from ‘Leisure’ by W.H.Davies have always stayed with me, a constant reminder to get down from the whirlwind of life and look at the flowers, the bees, the butterflies and dawn breaking at the horizon.
William Wordsworth’s wisdom made me understand that life is more than just earning and spending money.
“The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;—
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!” His poetry inspires us to lead a meaningful life and respect the spiritual link that connects man with nature and his supreme being.
John Keats defined beauty for me and nurtured my love for beautiful things that are mentioned in his poem ‘Endymion.’
“A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness;…but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Emily Dickinson’s poem helps us understand success:
“Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne’er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.”
Each line of my all time favorite poem ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling teaches profound lessons,
“If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;”… It encourages us to take pride in ourselves, develop patience, stay upright in the midst of lies, don’t get agitated by others’ demeanor, follow your dreams but don’t let dreams master you and avoid pretentions.
‘I am the People, the Mob’ by Carl Sandburg inspires us to rise against exploitation and social injustice. Look at his passionate appeal:
“When I, the People, learn to remember, when I, the People, use the lessons of yesterday and no longer forget who robbed me last year, who played me for a fool—then there will be no speaker in all the world say the name: “The People,” with any fleck of a sneer in his voice or any far-off smile of derision.”
Walter D. Wintle’s poem ‘Thinking’ has stood by me in the darkest moments, exuding light on the paths of life – a reminder that life’s battles are won by “the man who thinks he can.”
“If you think you are beaten, you are
If you think you dare not, you don’t,
If you like to win, but you think you can’t
It is almost a cinch – you won’t.”
‘Last Ride Together’ by Robert Browning inspires optimism.
‘The Road Not Taken’ by Robert Frost exhorts us not to regret the choices we make.
‘The Man He Killed’ by Thomas Hardy questions the futility of war, in which soldiers have to kill strangers just because he “Was out of work…” and happened to join infantry.
The Little Black Boy by William Blake says a lot with just one verse: “I am black, but Oh! my soul is white,”
I have mentioned just a few poems that have made a mark on my personality. Thank you for reading this. Do you have a poem in mind that has inspired you or conveyed a strong message? Please share your thoughts.
You can click here for more poetry.
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Balroop Singh.
Emotional Shadows 