Happy World Poetry Day!
There is not a particle of life which does not bear poetry within it.” -Gustave Flaubert
Dear reader,
Today we celebrate poetry, the elixir of life for romantics like myself who choose brevity, wordplay and verse to keep ourselves going.
Poetry, and words in general, have kept me sane. I grew up in a home full of stories, with a father who was constantly reading and my mother always engaging me with make-believe tales. I too read everything I could, from Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl to comics like Bill Watterson’s beloved Calvin & Hobbes.
But it was poetry, in the form of Edward Lear, Spike Milligan, Shel Silverstein and R.L.Stevenson that I grew a soft corner for. I loved the playfulness of the form, how a few lines could convey so much. I chuckled to myself reading children’s poetry, amused by how whimsical and imaginative the imagery was, and fell in love with the sound of poetry and the fee-fi-fo-fum.
Those were the early days of knowing that writing would dictate my life path somehow. Never did I imagine poetry of all things to create such a flutter in my heart but I have Alfred Tennyson, my English teacher Siddhartha Menon, and Raeesa Vakil (of OG poetry newsletter Oddity&Light) to thank for that.
Putting my pen/pencil to paper and letting words flow has always felt like the most natural form of release. Poetry has helped me find the right words to navigate and express the spectrum of feelings I’m constantly feeling. It has been a constant companion, so much so that it inspired me to start this newsletter back in 2015 to share my poetic discoveries with anyone interested. The shared appreciation and love for poetry has helped me find community, with thousands of likeminded individuals in India and across the globe.
Thank you, Poetry, for all that you have offered me. Let’s read some poetry today.
Poetry Corner: Poems on Poetry
1. Some Like Poetry by Wislawa Szymborska
Translated by Regina Grol
Some -
thus not all. Not even the majority of all but the minority.
Not counting schools, where one has to,
and the poets themselves,
there might be two people per thousand.
Like -
but one also likes chicken soup with noodles,
one likes compliments and the color blue,
one likes an old scarf,
one likes having the upper hand,
one likes stroking a dog.
Poetry -
but what is poetry.
Many shaky answers
have been given to this question.
But I don't know and don't know and hold on to it
like to a sustaining railing.
2. Poetry Reading by Anna Swir
I’m curled into a ball
like a dog
that is cold.
Who will tell me
why I was born,
why this monstrosity
called life.
The telephone rings. I have to give
a poetry reading.
I enter.
A hundred people, a hundred pairs of eyes.
They look, they wait.
I know for what.
I am supposed to tell them
why they were born,
why there is
this monstrosity called life.
3. These Poems, She Said by Robert Bringhurst
These poems, these poems,
these poems, she said, are poems
with no love in them. These are the poems of a man
who would leave his wife and child because
they made noise in his study. These are the poems
of a man who would murder his mother to claim
the inheritance. These are the poems of a man
like Plato, she said, meaning something I did not
comprehend but which nevertheless
offended me. These are the poems of a man
who would rather sleep with himself than with women,
she said. These are the poems of a man
with eyes like a drawknife, with hands like a pickpocket’s
hands, woven of water and logic
and hunger, with no strand of love in them. These
poems are as heartless as birdsong, as unmeant
as elm leaves, which if they love love only
the wide blue sky and the air and the idea
of elm leaves. Self-love is an ending, she said,
and not a beginning. Love means love
of the thing sung, not of the song or the singing.
These poems, she said....
You are, he said,
beautiful.
That is not love, she said rightly.
4. My Favorite Poets by Adam Zagajewski
Translated by Clare Cavanagh
My favorite poets
never met
They lived in different countries
and different ages
surrounded by ordinariness
by good people and bad
they lived modestly
like an apple in an orchard
They loved clouds
they lifted their heads
a great armada
of light and shade
sailed above them
a film was playing
that still hasn’t ended
Moments of bitterness
passed swiftly
likewise moments of joy
Sometimes they knew
what the world was
and wrote hard words
on soft paper
Sometimes they knew nothing
and were like children
on a school playground
when the first drop
of warm rain
descends
5. Pass The Poems, Please by Jane Baskwill
Pass the poem please
Pile them on my plate
Put them right in front of me
For I can hardly wait
To take each tangy word
To try each tasty rhyme
And when I’ve tried them once or twice
I’ll try them one more time:
So pass the poems please
They just won’t leave my head
I have to have more poems
Before I go to bed.
6. Notes On The Art Of Poetry by Dylan Thomas
I could never have dreamt that there were such goings-on
in the world between the covers of books,
such sandstorms and ice blasts of words,
such staggering peace, such enormous laughter,
such and so many blinding bright lights,
splashing all over the pages
in a million bits and pieces
all of which were words, words, words,
and each of which were alive forever
in its own delight and glory and oddity and light.
Celebrating Poetry with Talk Easy
Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso is a weekly podcast series of intimate conversations with writers, activists, and musicians -- where people sound like people.
Sam offers a space for guests to slow down and share how they arrived at the place they are today and where they hope to go tomorrow. Rigorously researched and irrepressibly curious, Sam invites his guests to come to the table and speak from the heart in ways you probably haven't heard from them before.
This World Poetry Day, celebrate with Talk Easy -- listen to one of their episodes featuring revered poets like Nikki Giovanni, Claudia Rankine, Morgan Parker. My favorite is Sam's conversation with On Earth we're Briefly Gorgeous author Ocean Vuong, who shares how he’s stayed the course, creatively, amidst oppressive systems, and how he's come to reckon with his work from a distance. Listen to Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso today.
The Alipore Post x The Plated Project
Last year, we worked with The Plated Project, a project that uses art to end world hunger, on a special Poetry x Ceramics collaboration to create The Raabta dinnerware collection.
Raabta is the Inexplicable connection with another soul. The collection explores the celestial bond between the sun and moon, weaving together art, science and impact to serve you a tale of love and longing.
Poetry
The inspiration behind this fine collection was penned down by poet Priyanka Lodha, winner of the poetry open call organised by The Alipore Post.
The gorgeous poem by Priyanka on the dinner plates:
You, the sun
And I the moon.
When we collide,
We bring massive tides.
Better apart but, wanting to touch,
An unknown connection between us.
Art
Inspired by astronomy and the beauty of the lunar and solar cycles, each piece from the collection was designed by acclaimed artist Nakul Talgeri. It depicts different phases of the journey the star-crossed lovers take.
Impact
The collection celebrates the power of words while spreading awareness about illiteracy and its impact on hunger. Each piece sold from the collection sponsors 10 meals for the underprivileged girls at Milaan Foundation’s school.
Ending with this potent reminder from Jean-Luc Godard’s Alphaville (1965)
Have a beautiful day, and remember to read a poem or two today.
To love and poetry,
Rohini