You said it perfectly! And somehow poetry struggles to get that acknowledgement. I wonder too, Tio Stib, if people "see" me... not if they don't engage with my craft!
Thank you, Nazish.... outside of warm and vibrant online communities, real life is filled with people who don't read or appreciate poetry and it presents all kinds of challenges!!! The best answer, perhaps, is to write about both sides!!
Highly possible, Nazish... though poetry in regional languages does a lot better than in English. Also our school systems don't do much to foster a love for poetry. But truly, I don't know how it is in other countries. Here, it is hard to find a decent collection of poetry books even in the bigger bookstores!
You mean, India, right? In my city, the biggest book store in town doesn't even have Bokowski, but you'd find the latest Greek dine in to be packed through out the week. Just that people would spend $50 on faux-branded food than $8 on a poetry book that'd probably save their soul.
I am in Islamabad. Ha ha! Yeah, that or political commentary. Or those trashy novels for teenagers who should be banned from reading them because why would you fan the hormonal storm that is already raging inside their young bodies.
“And I wonder if it is me”….I feel the same way….when is a poem not trying to form in my head???….isn’t life a constant prayer, a constant poem when we actually start paying attention?! Love this Rajani.
Being a poet means you write poetry. It's like Wm. S. Burroughs said of Jack Kerouac. Here's an imprecise quote, "Kerouac is a writer. By that I mean he writes." That's really the foundation.
More to the point is...
O Me! O Life!
By Walt Whitman
Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.
That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.
Oh yes, Martha!! Whitman says it perfectly - just keep writing, despite... or because of!! I haven't read a lot of Whitman, early attempts were not very successful, I couldn't relate...but this poem might push me to dive into my copy of Leaves of grass with renewed interest!!! Thanks so much!
He's very American -- intentionally. As he was a nurse in the Civil War, and gay, and in love with the "idea" of America and the Frontier, and a man of his time in so many ways, and a "rebel" in his way of writing poetry using the common meter and dialect of American speech -- I think he can be a little obscure. Plus he's been mythologized so much and he wrote so much. The gayness is only a "thing" because critics have made it one.
In some of his poems there might just be a line or four that you never want to forget. He loved writing poetry the way it seems you do. That might be the key. I like(d) to buy old, used copies of Leaves of Grass because people LOVE them and those old books were always filled with newspaper clippings, dried leaves and flowers, letters, comments, cool things attesting to what the book meant to them. I don't have one any more. This is a poem to his poetry. I love it, particularly the ending.
Thank you! Will give the book a shot, put it on my reading list for this year. And used copies of poetry books are a revelation! I love to see what's underlined and little things in the margins!! :)
I read a piece recently on why one mustn't explain their poetry, and how a poem changes with every reader and from what the poet had once perceived, until it left their pen.
It does...a poem is different for every reader...which is why it is so difficult to explain a poem. Listening to close readings of poems where each line and punctuation mark is analyzed to try and find the poet's intent and meaning - is quite surreal. I'm not "glad" this resonated...I wish poets have very supportive groups in real life as well...but am comforted that we all keep writing, nevertheless!
Perhaps the poet having to explain a poem takes away its purpose or shows a lack of 'skill'? From the reader's POV, I usually enjoy the analysis of a poem for meaning.
Could be both, perhaps - a poem can be obscure by design or unintentionally or the reader, unfamiliar with poetry or poetic devices, needs an explanation.... either way it is hard to explain!!!
Thank you, Namratha...and yes more than visual or performance arts, poetry seems to be in a space where it needs reassurance and validation. We must work hard to build a community...yet there are times when I wonder if a notebook under the mattress is not enough...it is a true struggle.
Yeah I wonder too...but I also think that is gaslighting by certain people, also the universe...making us question ourselves. The answer is to write more and write better! At least so I think :)
It is up to each one of us to decide if that is worthwhile. For me, it seems like a life worth living. At least it feels better than worrying about the taxes.
Yesterday I saw how the ferry sailed across the sound and instantly my mind turned it into a swan. Since I had just visited the city the day prior I suddenly realized that seagulls are the pigeons of the beach.
Rajani, just as always, you connected me from the beginning. That too familiar feeling of being somewhat disconnected from what objective reality is out there—the external world, dare I say—and at the same time being in so intimate a relationship with it that what catches your eye and takes your heart in its grip is missed by everybody else around you. That occasional longing for being in the bustle of life where others reside, just able to see and enjoy as mindlessly as they do, without that internal voice narrating and rhyming and wording every scene, everything you bear witness to.
Your comment is much more poetic than the post, Mahdi!!! Thank you. And we all seem to be in a cult that understands exactly what this poem is and what you are saying here - the strangeness of it all, the unbelonging and yet wanting everyone to see it like we do! What can we do but just keep writing poems!!???
I love this. For me, writing IS seizing the moment. It feels as though life only slips by me when I don't pay and attention and lay it before me in words. Also, I can't imagine having to explain a poem lol
Yes - what everyone has already said. Sometimes the process of writing the poem feels like the true poem, or the poem is writing me as I write it. There are times when an event - a scene - a strange linkage of one thing with another such as you describe so well - can only be real for me if I write it into words, the way a developed photograph (on real film) must be dipped in a fixative or it will be lost forever...
Do you ever think of the poems you didn't manage to write as children you failed to save?
Thank you, David...it is surreal, that mind of a poet, always working and translating into words. I love your photograph analogy. And yes, it hurts to let an unfinished poem go, even an unwritten one feels very real!! Isn't it great we have these platforms where we can share our work with actual poets and readers and get support and feedback!!!!
I never discuss my writing, and rarely my art, with my family and/or friends. They have no interest. I do have some textile friends/relatives at least. It's almost like I'm two different people--the online one and the in-the-world one--living two parallel lives.
Why am I doing this, making things that will just disappear with me? Because I must. And you never know, maybe it touches someone somehow somewhere. (K)
oh yes, K...I too live those parallel lives and it is fine mostly but sometimes it just blows up!!! And it is because I must...so glad there is the online space. The virtual family! Thanks so much!
I so know the feeling. My family acts like poetry is some weird aberration of mine - they cant fathom it. LOL. Thankfully, my village is full of poets so I have people to talk to about poetry. Beautifully written, as always, my friend.
Thank you, Rebecca...poetry is still not widely read here and poets frequently run into walls when they try to explain their craft!! Probably why we truly value the online poetry family even more!!!
You said it perfectly! And somehow poetry struggles to get that acknowledgement. I wonder too, Tio Stib, if people "see" me... not if they don't engage with my craft!
I saw myself in it. Multiple times. Such a beautiful flow, Rajani.
Thank you, Nazish.... outside of warm and vibrant online communities, real life is filled with people who don't read or appreciate poetry and it presents all kinds of challenges!!! The best answer, perhaps, is to write about both sides!!
Maybe this lack of understanding is more rampant in brown cultures? Where there is a heavy focus on earning the daily bread and cricket and food.
Highly possible, Nazish... though poetry in regional languages does a lot better than in English. Also our school systems don't do much to foster a love for poetry. But truly, I don't know how it is in other countries. Here, it is hard to find a decent collection of poetry books even in the bigger bookstores!
You mean, India, right? In my city, the biggest book store in town doesn't even have Bokowski, but you'd find the latest Greek dine in to be packed through out the week. Just that people would spend $50 on faux-branded food than $8 on a poetry book that'd probably save their soul.
Yes, Bangalore specifically. And exactly that!! Some day there will be more poetry books than self-help and how to get rich quick!! :)
I am in Islamabad. Ha ha! Yeah, that or political commentary. Or those trashy novels for teenagers who should be banned from reading them because why would you fan the hormonal storm that is already raging inside their young bodies.
“And I wonder if it is me”….I feel the same way….when is a poem not trying to form in my head???….isn’t life a constant prayer, a constant poem when we actually start paying attention?! Love this Rajani.
It is, absolutely! Thanks so much, Holly. If we know how to look, everything is indeed poetry!! And thank goodness for that!
Being a poet means you write poetry. It's like Wm. S. Burroughs said of Jack Kerouac. Here's an imprecise quote, "Kerouac is a writer. By that I mean he writes." That's really the foundation.
More to the point is...
O Me! O Life!
By Walt Whitman
Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.
That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.
Oh yes, Martha!! Whitman says it perfectly - just keep writing, despite... or because of!! I haven't read a lot of Whitman, early attempts were not very successful, I couldn't relate...but this poem might push me to dive into my copy of Leaves of grass with renewed interest!!! Thanks so much!
He's very American -- intentionally. As he was a nurse in the Civil War, and gay, and in love with the "idea" of America and the Frontier, and a man of his time in so many ways, and a "rebel" in his way of writing poetry using the common meter and dialect of American speech -- I think he can be a little obscure. Plus he's been mythologized so much and he wrote so much. The gayness is only a "thing" because critics have made it one.
In some of his poems there might just be a line or four that you never want to forget. He loved writing poetry the way it seems you do. That might be the key. I like(d) to buy old, used copies of Leaves of Grass because people LOVE them and those old books were always filled with newspaper clippings, dried leaves and flowers, letters, comments, cool things attesting to what the book meant to them. I don't have one any more. This is a poem to his poetry. I love it, particularly the ending.
https://whitmanarchive.org/item/ppp.00270_00305
Thank you! Will give the book a shot, put it on my reading list for this year. And used copies of poetry books are a revelation! I love to see what's underlined and little things in the margins!! :)
I read a piece recently on why one mustn't explain their poetry, and how a poem changes with every reader and from what the poet had once perceived, until it left their pen.
Your poem resonates deeply, Rajani.
It does...a poem is different for every reader...which is why it is so difficult to explain a poem. Listening to close readings of poems where each line and punctuation mark is analyzed to try and find the poet's intent and meaning - is quite surreal. I'm not "glad" this resonated...I wish poets have very supportive groups in real life as well...but am comforted that we all keep writing, nevertheless!
Perhaps the poet having to explain a poem takes away its purpose or shows a lack of 'skill'? From the reader's POV, I usually enjoy the analysis of a poem for meaning.
Could be both, perhaps - a poem can be obscure by design or unintentionally or the reader, unfamiliar with poetry or poetic devices, needs an explanation.... either way it is hard to explain!!!
It's tough and unfair to expect, maybe. Poetry thrives on profundity, and many of us can only swim in shallow waters. It's how we are made:)
There is an ache in this poem - Maybe that is why we seek other poets, a community, people who get it without needing an explanation.
Thank you, Namratha...and yes more than visual or performance arts, poetry seems to be in a space where it needs reassurance and validation. We must work hard to build a community...yet there are times when I wonder if a notebook under the mattress is not enough...it is a true struggle.
It's good to share, but share and don't care. Write to write.
True, in the purest form, that should work. Though without a community, real or virtual, it could be a lonely road.
Also, this is exactly me: this is my constant question.
Am I
letting life slip by in pursuit of a word
that no one(or maybe a couple of people) will read.
Yeah I wonder too...but I also think that is gaslighting by certain people, also the universe...making us question ourselves. The answer is to write more and write better! At least so I think :)
Here's to writing more and writing better! While we are at life we might as well give that a shot
It is up to each one of us to decide if that is worthwhile. For me, it seems like a life worth living. At least it feels better than worrying about the taxes.
Definitely better! Is there a vibrant poetry community where you are, Aleksandr? That would make it more interesting too!
I would say yes, because I am surrounded by birds.
Yesterday I saw how the ferry sailed across the sound and instantly my mind turned it into a swan. Since I had just visited the city the day prior I suddenly realized that seagulls are the pigeons of the beach.
Rajani, just as always, you connected me from the beginning. That too familiar feeling of being somewhat disconnected from what objective reality is out there—the external world, dare I say—and at the same time being in so intimate a relationship with it that what catches your eye and takes your heart in its grip is missed by everybody else around you. That occasional longing for being in the bustle of life where others reside, just able to see and enjoy as mindlessly as they do, without that internal voice narrating and rhyming and wording every scene, everything you bear witness to.
Your comment is much more poetic than the post, Mahdi!!! Thank you. And we all seem to be in a cult that understands exactly what this poem is and what you are saying here - the strangeness of it all, the unbelonging and yet wanting everyone to see it like we do! What can we do but just keep writing poems!!???
I love this. For me, writing IS seizing the moment. It feels as though life only slips by me when I don't pay and attention and lay it before me in words. Also, I can't imagine having to explain a poem lol
Thanks so much, Soala...I totally get that- translating every moment and experience into poetry!
Dear Rajani
Yes - what everyone has already said. Sometimes the process of writing the poem feels like the true poem, or the poem is writing me as I write it. There are times when an event - a scene - a strange linkage of one thing with another such as you describe so well - can only be real for me if I write it into words, the way a developed photograph (on real film) must be dipped in a fixative or it will be lost forever...
Do you ever think of the poems you didn't manage to write as children you failed to save?
That's how they feel to me.
D
Thank you, David...it is surreal, that mind of a poet, always working and translating into words. I love your photograph analogy. And yes, it hurts to let an unfinished poem go, even an unwritten one feels very real!! Isn't it great we have these platforms where we can share our work with actual poets and readers and get support and feedback!!!!
“I wasn’t put on this planet to explain myself.” - Dean Young
Ha ha... I think that is so true about a poem!! :)
I never discuss my writing, and rarely my art, with my family and/or friends. They have no interest. I do have some textile friends/relatives at least. It's almost like I'm two different people--the online one and the in-the-world one--living two parallel lives.
Why am I doing this, making things that will just disappear with me? Because I must. And you never know, maybe it touches someone somehow somewhere. (K)
oh yes, K...I too live those parallel lives and it is fine mostly but sometimes it just blows up!!! And it is because I must...so glad there is the online space. The virtual family! Thanks so much!
I so know the feeling. My family acts like poetry is some weird aberration of mine - they cant fathom it. LOL. Thankfully, my village is full of poets so I have people to talk to about poetry. Beautifully written, as always, my friend.
Thank you, Sherry. Am so glad your village has a group and hosts events regularly!! Real life poetry support groups are fantastic!!
if it is my fault for not knowing
how to close my eyes and block poem
and surf and sand and gull
if it is me
letting my world go flat as I scan the horizon
for a gap, a track, a door ajar —
if it is me
wondering if this is what gaslighting means
to dismiss a poem
to dismiss a poet
to treat sea only as sea
sky only as sky
day only as day
nothing only as nothing
These lines are breathtaking. So powerful. I also love the poem looking at you from the clouds!
Thank you, Rebecca...poetry is still not widely read here and poets frequently run into walls when they try to explain their craft!! Probably why we truly value the online poetry family even more!!!