#129: Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart
Dear reader,
A friend recently told me that ‘my passion for life is surreal, in the best possible way’. It’s one of the best compliments I have received, for I am driven by a sense of awe and curiosity, one that fulfils and gives back in unexpected ways, forever nudging me along on this journey.
I often wonder how I have found the capacity to write these newsletters week after week for almost six years now. Or where the inspiration to initiate and sustain projects like Chitthi Exchange or This is my newsletter comes from. Or why I have maintained a journal for art, poetry, photography, interviews and collaborations apart from this weekly newsletter and all the other things going on in my life.
The only answer I seem to arrive at is that these things manifest in mysterious ways when the time is ripe for the taking. I’m not sure which side of the Nature vs Nurture debate I stand, but I resonate with Elizabeth Gilbert, who writes in Big Magic, “Follow your own fascinations, obsessions, and compulsions. Trust them. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart.”
In the spirit of making place for the big magic, here are a few poems about poetry that caused a revolution in my heart:
1. Medium by Nayyirah Waheed
I am simply the poet.
the poem
is
the one
that
can change your life.
2. If Nothing Else This Poem by Paul Guest
for Heather Heyer
Has in it no cretinous Nazis, no lead slurry
thickening the water with death, so
that is these days a plus. In this line,
no ancient and fragile biome has been
hounded into collapse. I think.
This is a poem, so don’t come here
searching for journalism. I will
record the end of everything I can see.
This sort of tolerable meal. The rain
that has pestered the earth all day long.
The distant lament of a siren.
Yes, something somewhere is
burning down. You will lose
everything. Some day. This is not news.
My hands ache like there
is no blood in them. Just cement.
Bad faith. The state of Ohio,
which I have sped through,
in the darkness breaking law after law.
This weekend a woman died
when a coward ran her down
in the street like nothing bad was ahead.
Would happen in that light.
I think of that morning:
how it began like any other.
I think I will sleep well
tonight: I’m tired. My eyes are worn out.
In my heart, inside it,
I am capable of every betrayal.
I am sorry the world is not better
than it is. I apologize
for this poem. These words
are not a prayer. Are not even an excuse.
3. In the Era of the Sentence Fragment by Dan Albergotti
Lines of incompletion. All those words
that can be gathered. But not enough
for shoring. Not against ruins. Fragments
of sentences, of dreams, of the boys’ school
in Hiroshima. Looking for raw material
in the dust. Finding nothing. Having nothing
inside. Unable to do the police in different voices.
No more voices. No more makers, better
or worse. Only weak echoes. And irony.
And the dim blue sunrise of the television screen.
And the wish finally to die, like Shelley,
mid-sentence. Writing the triumph of life.
4. The Poem Wants A Drink by Karen Glenn
In the workshop, students analyze
what each poem wants, what each one
strives to be. Well, this poem is
a layabout with limited ambitions. It wants
a drink.
This poem doesn't give a damn
for rhyme or reason. It only sings
off-key. It has no rhythm
in the jukebox of its soul.
It grew up without symbols.
It doesn't know from assonance.
Give it mambo lessons, and it
still won't learn to dance. It has
not one stanza with a lyric pedigree.
It's late, and getting later, and this poem
wants a drink.
Call it gray and tired. Even call it
a cliche. This poem's lived long enough
to know exactly what it means
to say: Don't be stingy
with the whiskey, baby.
.....Yes, the night
has been a cruel one, and this poem
could use a drink.
Recommended Listening:
1. Prélude n°1 aux tubes musicaux (boomwhackers)
2. Decade of Less
3. Hania Rani - F Major
4. An album in the style of The Beatles, generated by OpenAI Jukebox
5. So In Love - Curtis Mayfield
Links of the Week:
1. How to Be Creative in an Era of Excess Consumption
2. Subscribe: the examined family (a weekly newsletter for people who get all twisted up inside about the brokenness of the world, and wonder how to actually live in it, loving and humble, but brave as hell)
3. The Great Conjunction (Found on Maribeth Helen's beautiful newsletter)
4. 30-day “Practice and Suck Less” challenge (Free download)
5. This 'Indian Dr. Seuss' Is Very Fond of Nonsense
6. On how 'puddle theory' helps me do what I'm putting off
7. Making The New York Times in 1942 (via Messy Ness Chic)
This is my newsletter: Adishi Gupta | Letters of Kindness
Adishi’s beautiful letter of kindness talks about what tethers us to kindness, how we respond to humility and shame, about childhood trauma and crying in public.
As she writes: As people co-existing in this world, it is our responsibility to be open to and make space for difference, however much it scares us.
I’m so grateful for this newsletter, and the words of wisdom tucked away between the lines. Please read it here: https://thisismynewsletter.substack.com/p/this-is-my-newsletter-24-adishi-gupta
New on the website:
1. Portraits of my mother by Anuj Arora
"Through these photographs, I am trying to show my own contradictions, doubts, new understandings about my mother as first and foremost, a person; something a lot of us forget to consider about the women in our lives. I am trying to constantly question myself by simply documenting my mother’s life in its pieces; hoping that when I put it all together, the sum will appear larger than its parts."
-Anuj Arora
See the beautiful photo series by Anuj here. This photo series is part of a new series of books by The Curator Mag titled Average Photographs, which is a collection of several thematic photo essays. Order the book here.
2. heard at the therapist's by Aditi Bhattacharjee (excerpt)
The scraping of chair.
Shuffling of under-confident feet.
The toughest question of the day –
"So, what brings you here today?"
Sympathy in the therapist's voice –
"You are grieving" she says out loud.
"I know, I know" you do not say it out loud.
Questions. Probing questions. Leading questions.
Names of people past, names of people lost
Mundane happenings that should have gone overlooked
Voice breaking as words make it to the halfway milestone of your throat
Read the full poem here.
3. Anpu Varkey's Summer Children
"Summer's Children, the graphic book, was published in 2019 and it took me two years to complete. This book is about memory and loss, as well as an ode to a Kerala summer. The story unfolds through a day, and this timeline was important in situating the tale. I wanted it to feel like an endless summer day, and how time seems unworn and meditative, since the beauty of the place was so captivating."
-Anpu Varkey
Read more about the making of Summer’s Children here.
4. Wailing Bones by Reya Rafi
[ “Be Happy with what you have”and other miseries I’ve heaved ]
To want more is not a sin
it is a voice from you
for you
which conveys
that you were made so full of dreams mankind couldn’t help
swallowing them
See more pages from Reya's art + poetry journal here.
Before I wrap up, here's a task prioritisation method by @nataliarebeccaisaac that I’ve been trying to incorporate into my life:
Stay strong. Prioritise your happiness. Be kind.
Sending good vibes to get you through this week,
Rohini
P.S. Do consider ordering a 2021 wall calendar with my silly doodles. You can also support The Alipore Post on Patreon / via UPI to thealiporepost@okhdfcbank.