#253: Poetry as a sense-making tool

Hello again.

The violence in Gaza has not stopped, and the sheer brutality of what’s going on is just too inhumane to comprehend. It’s much too real, and the only thing I seem to find any sort of comfort in is poetry, or simply, the stringing together of words. Of loss that may be perceived as universal but can only ever truly make sense to the ones who experienced it. Of hope and resilience, despite everything.

Today, I’ll use this newsletter to explore the act of sense-making through poetry. A collection of quotes, poems and tweets that help me see/seek truth, in all its sharpness and fragility.

A short collage poem I wrote last year. Still relevant.

1. “…And so poetry has earned an existential meditation, which demands a break away from pure lyricism and the courage to engage in a discourse which is constantly accused of mundaneness.”
   -from Poetry as awareness by Czesław Miłosz, a text devoted to Wislawa Szymborska (via Culture)
   

2. Little Epiphanies by Allison Joseph (Excerpt)

   “The difference between what’s whole
   

   and what’s held, what’s withheld

   or revealed, what’s real and what’s
   

   revelation - that’s what I seek,

   rest of my life spent in search
   

   of little epiphanies, tiny sparks surging

   out of the brain during the clumsiest speech.

   
   Read the full poem here.
   

3. “I had the feeling that I could learn from poets—how they saw, how they heard. It struck me as the art form closest to music, my first love, and I loved the fact that poetry always felt like it was steaming ahead of me, and my job was to catch up.”
   -from Paul Lisicky’s syllabus (via Read a Little Poetry)
   

4. “A poem is not just words placed on a line. It’s a cloth. Mahmoud Darwish wanted to build his home, his exile, from all the words in the world. I weave my poems with my veins. I want to build a poem like a solid home, but hopefully not with my bones.”

   -Mosab Abu Toha, from Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza; Palestine A-Z (via)
   

5. “The part of the psyche that works in concert with consciousness and supplies a necessary part of the poem — the heart of the star as opposed to the shape of a star, let us say — exists in a mysterious, unmapped zone: not unconscious, not subconscious, but cautious. It learns quickly what sort of courtship it is going to be. Say you promise to be at your desk in the evenings, from seven to nine. It waits, it watches. If you are reliably there, it begins to show itself — soon it begins to arrive when you do. But if you are only there sometimes and are frequently late or inattentive, it will appear fleetingly, or it will not appear at all.”
   -Mary Oliver (via The Marginalian)
   

6. “There’s something about his work that stills me and grounds me back into tangible, deeply felt realness. The sounds of things. The shadow-play against a wall. The sorrow underneath it all.”
   -Devin Kelly on his poetry teacher, D. Nurkse’s poems
   

7. “So if you’re afraid to write your homeland— if you’re an immigrant poet or a translator— please know that poetry about places literally gives us a land. It makes that land a part of our cognitive maps. To give your world to others in poetry honors that world. It, too, is a labor.”
   -Poet Alina Stefanescu
   

8. Incantation of the First Order by Rita Dove
   
   Listen, no one signed up for this lullaby.  
   No bleeped sheep or rosebuds or twitching stars  
   will diminish the fear or save you from waking  
   
   into the same day you dreamed of leaving—
   mockingbird on back order, morning bells
   stuck on snooze—so you might as well  
   
   get up and at it, pestilence be damned.  
   Peril and risk having become relative,
   I’ll try to couch this in positive terms:
   
   Never! is the word of last resorts,  
   Always! the fanatic’s rallying cry.  
   To those inclined toward kindness, I say
   
   Come out of your houses drumming. All others,  
   beware: I have discarded my smile but not my teeth.
   

9. “I prefer the absurdity of writing poems to the absurdity of not writing poems.”
   -Wisława Szymborska (via)

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+ Some life updates

Two sides of the same mug. Meet Detective Dino, Rani and Spoony!

1. The Alipore Post x The Strange Co.
   I made a ceramic mug in collaboration with the lovely folks at The Strange Co. After countless brainstorming sessions, creating backstories for the three characters - Detective Dino, Spoony and Rani, and the entire world building exercise, the collaboration is finally out in the world.

2. Interview: Le Mill
   Had my brain picked by Rujuta Vaidya at Le Mill, and really enjoyed re-discovering my own creative process in the process.
   
   An excerpt :
   “The forager in me is alive and well for everything - from little poems I find on the Internet, or fallen leaves and flowers I gather on my walks. I like how foraging is a constant feature of my life because it keeps me always open to the possibilities of delight.”

3. Memories on a Plate featured in Vogue India

   Shruti and I spoke to Saachi Gupta at Vogue about the inspirations, joys and struggles of putting together a visual anthology that celebrates 100 stories from Indian kitchens around the globe.
   
   An excerpt :

   “At the moment though, Taneja and Kejriwal are bubbling over with anticipation for the release of Memories on a Plate. To those who read it, the book will instil a renewed appreciation for how we engage with food and those who cook it.”
   

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That’s all for this week and this awful month. Be brave enough to raise your voice. It’ll make a difference, tomorrow, if not today.

Keep it real, please,
Rohini

“The only thing worth globalizing is dissent.”
-Arundhati Roy