| Username |
Post |
| NK |
Posted
on 21-Aug-02 11:23 AM
To Live
A new beginning.
It's a new day,
Air feels different,
And, arms are longer,
Legs jump higher,
Laughter exuberant!
It's a sparkling new life!
Outside the window,
all kaleidoscopic,
Swirling and red and blue and yellow.
In a numb silence,
only the whirring of a ceiling fan.
Heart jumps,
Tries to come out of the mouth,
Thudding gets louder,
the new day gets shriller,
Day progresses - a mad pace.
A mad, mad, mad place
To be.
A topsy turvey mad new day,
Even the new air has
a whiff of scandal,
Long arms aimless
dangles,
Legs desperate
to jump to crevices,
Or some iron tracks,
Laughter - a howl -
The New Day turns into a stench
of a three day old carcass.
A waste, a waste!
To be.
The thick diary lies,
Autobiography - fallacious,
Pages after pages
doctored and pretty and white
-washed.
Sorry, sorry.
Oh! The mad mad cry.
NK
First published in Suskera. Made some minor changes here. I like to post here for the frank comments/commentaries I receive. I learn a lot in the process.
I wonder what Sujan's interpretation will be. Kind of scared :)! And of course Gokul! I am apprehensive of Nattu's reaction though.... whatever. here it is.
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| bujhina |
Posted
on 22-Aug-02 09:56 AM
khoi ke ho? bujhaideu ba!
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| We need it |
Posted
on 22-Aug-02 10:36 AM
We need some interpretations of this poem.
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| deep |
Posted
on 22-Aug-02 11:02 AM
interpretation sinterpretation kina chahiyo? Aru dui char choti padham na tak tuk bujhi halinchha ni. Kasailai bykhya garera sunaune haina kyare. ki kaso?
kabita interpretation garera eka desh ma jasto garera bujhaunu paryo bhane ta kabita ko ras bichki daina ra bhanya?
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| oys_chill |
Posted
on 22-Aug-02 11:16 AM
damn good poem NK (dd bhanna parcha? i am tired of being tagged as bhai)
mm really enjoyed it..
and please do NOT post the interpretation..we all have our own perspectives about understanding the poems( look who's talking deep dai? ;) )...well anyways, i read somewhere that poems are supposed to be open ended!!
aaba NK dd ta sajha ko legend.....It really inspired me when i happened to read somewhere along the threads that NK READS MY MEMORY LANES RE :) ma ta danggaaaa...thanx :)
Keep them coming :)
chill oys
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| We need it |
Posted
on 22-Aug-02 01:01 PM
Oys_Chilly bhai:p,
You are right: poems are supposed to be open ended, and everybody has his/her own insight and interpretation. But, in this case, what’s your interpretation? Would you please share with us since I got no clue how to eat this poem? ..LOL…
NK is certainly a great poet and I’ve enjoyed her previously posted poems.
Chill out chill....LOL: p
Here's how a poem supposed to be ...for u sweet chilly;)
A poem should be open-ended thread
As a spread-sheet,
A poem should be palpable and mute
As a globed fruit,
A poem should be equal to:
Not true.
A poem should not mean
But be.
After all, a poem should be all lol;)
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| oys_chill |
Posted
on 22-Aug-02 01:14 PM
ahem ahem!! afai poet raicha ra po ;) aroo poet ko view khojeko...
chill baata chilly banayo :O.....WE NEED IT DAI..even poems like yors bout poem ;)
oys
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| Nepe |
Posted
on 22-Aug-02 02:03 PM
A refined poem that makes you feel sad.
But..
But, if I reverse the poem and read it from the end to the beginning I feel good. Don't I have a reason to do so ?
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| LAPEn |
Posted
on 22-Aug-02 06:45 PM
Probably someone tripping on PCP
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| NK |
Posted
on 22-Aug-02 08:51 PM
I don't know where to begin. Was in the chat room and my good friend SGY asked, "What the heck that poem was about?" My answer was, " what do you understand when you read the first paragraph?" He was entangled with the line "Arms are longer/ Legs jump higher..." He said when he read those lines he thought of the movie, 'White Men Cannot Jump' ! No, no I was not alluding to that movie when I wrote that line, certainly not :)
I have said it numerous times I am an amateur "poet." I even feel uneasy to call myself a poet. When I hear the word poet I think of all those greats from Dante to Stanley K. (cannot spell his last name). Anyway, what I am trying to say is I am learning. I am reading and practicing to write. Plath was the inspiration of this poem. I love the way she brings in imagery of history, especially Nazi past... and Greek tragedies and so on and say it directly and intricately... [help! I don't want to be lost while trying to explain] the only literary reference I have made in this poem is Anna Karenina- train tracks....
This is a very simple poem. Oys_Chill does not want me to interpret so does Deep the two literary stars ofSajha. And certainly I am not going to interpret. Poetry asks questions do not give an answer, which is what I have heard and seen. Like you all are saying it should be an open ended or is.
My poetry made Nepe sad if he reads it from top down. But then if he reads from bottom up it is a happy poem. That is what I guess it is a sad poem. Life is full of sadness, no? And I cannot help it when it shows up in my poetry. Even my "famous" nephew whose English is rudimentary, says my poetry are sad. What can I say? I am a very happy person :) :) :) ))))))))))))) [see the smile on my face?], it is just that when I sit down to write poetry protagonists seem to be lost or sad or unhappy... Maybe that will change. Biswo (in his pvt email – yes we write to each other quite often) always voiced his disstatisfaction that my poems don’t sound like me, NK, the real person. And, he was happy to note in this poem that the protagonist seemed to find her voice. What do you think?
Thank you all for your encouragement.
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| NK |
Posted
on 23-Aug-02 10:26 AM
Boy that was a long post, rambling rather. Sstill, I forgot to say something important. I liked your verse 'we need it.' Good one!
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| Gurl_Interrupted |
Posted
on 23-Aug-02 10:32 AM
Hey Nk,
U got a nice poem there sista. It's short...yet it says a lot. Deep hah!! Way to go!! Take care.
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| We need it |
Posted
on 23-Aug-02 12:34 PM
NK,
Thanks, I value your imposing and astounding poems. Keep up with your good work; someday you will be Stanley Kunitz and Dante Alighieri(from your list). You can also write epic poem like LA DIVINIA COMMEDIA ....You can do it...
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| surya |
Posted
on 23-Aug-02 12:52 PM
NK:
Thanks for sharing the poem. I liked the images and the movement is great. I agree with whoever said that its better not to "interpret" the poem. The poem needs to speak for itself.
From reading, I definitely got the idea, that yes, this poem is dealing with some sad stuff. The person in question, the protagonist I guess, starts out happy and moves to a really sad and hopeless state. But why?
Maybe I did not follow the images and did not read the clues right. You mentioned that you make an allusion to Anne Kerenina. Well I got the train track part, and I understood it to mean something like self-annihalation or her contemplating suicide or maybe even that things are moving at a great speed and with forces beyond her control, which all work fine. But other than that, the literary reference was lost on me. Could be becasue I have not read Anne Karenina. Anyhow, the last bit about diary too was a bit cryptic for a similar reason.
I think I am struggling with whether the poem means to be purely lyrical or more narrative. Since you have some narrative elements in the poem... especially when you bring in the diaries, which are very concrete and specific images, I am thrown off a bit. It's like there is something about this protagonist that I do not know yet which if I knew, i would understand more her story and the poem. The poem would work better for me is some of these were addressed!
Anyway, here it is! Hope you don't mind. I enjoy your work and look forward to reading more!
Thanks for sharing.
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| NK |
Posted
on 24-Aug-02 08:58 AM
Girl Interrupted: Thanks for taking some time to read my poem. Did you see the movie? Jolie Rocks, doesn't she?
We need it: What a confidence you have on me. I don't know about being another Dante (hahaha now, that is funny!!) but would sure like to publish some day. ;)
and oh oys_chill: yeah, I am tired of hearing didi too, so let's just drop that, shall we?
And my dear Surya: Lemme think and I will try to answer some of the questions you have raised about my poem. You know I gotta run now: "baby, husband," house, running it self.... and so on.....
and on
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| Biswo |
Posted
on 24-Aug-02 09:52 PM
NK,
Good to read your poem here after a long time. I know that I have told my
predilection for strength on poems.This is the element I admire most in poems.
Thanks for posting the revision here.
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| villageVoice |
Posted
on 25-Aug-02 07:12 AM
hi nk, good one. by the way, i came across one more fan of your poems - and postings - in the city yesterday. you are living up to the billing, aren't: famous sajhaite. good. good. good.
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| NK |
Posted
on 25-Aug-02 09:12 PM
Village Voice, they are all over aren't they? Just kidding. :))))). Sigh. You don't know how difficult it is to live up to the expectation. sigh sigh sigh. :((((((
Biswo!!!!!! My fren, you are back! Jesus! I was getting so worried that you too vanished on me as Sally did.
Surya:
Narrative and Lyrical is not mutually exclusive, I am sure you would agree with that. You asked me why the protagonist moved to a depair stage. I don't know. This is a poem that takes a snap shot of one person's feeling of hopelessness. Remeber poetry asks questions not necessarily give answers. Of course there are poets who like to give answers what is love hate war and also explain why. This poem definitely does not fall under that category.
No, this poem is not another rendition of Anna Karenina. The poem mentions the biggest incident of that novel - yes fleetingly. The allusion to "whiff of scandal" that smells like a "carcass" are all pointing to some certain incident/incidents that is obviously tormenting the protagonist.
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| Gurl_Interrupted |
Posted
on 26-Aug-02 10:14 AM
Hey Sista,
Thanks & big UP to u for sharing ur poem out here. Sure u can be another Dante, Can't u? Keep posting more of ur writings, I'd love to read them.
And about Gurl_.... movie, yup jolie rocks but I could relate more with Winona :). Watched it twice and still watch it sometimes :). I ain't a psyhco, don't take me wrong Lololz. U know sometimes just need to remind myself about numerous truths (some of it harsh & hurting) that exists out there in the real world :). And this movie certainly does remind me of one.
And perhaps, I was interrupted in my lifetime also :). God knows!! Sorry didn't meant to take ur time away & go blah blah blah but when I start I tend to go on & on... Newayz, take care & (CHEERS) to ur writings. Keep writing & nurturing ur passion.
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| joie de vivre |
Posted
on 26-Aug-02 01:13 PM
Ok, so I finally read it, NK. Not having a poetic bone in my body, it amazes me how people like yourself can thread some words together and turn them into a work of art. I specially like the line "The new day turns into a stench of a three day old carcass". You must've been talking about my work week!!
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| NK |
Posted
on 26-Aug-02 03:01 PM
But Joie my dear, you have plenty of funny bones in you. So everything is A-OK. Glad that line desribed one of your days.
Girl_inturrepted, Interruption is ok I think as long as one's growth was not stunted. Interruption is what makes us stronger if you come out through, that is. You know kinda like a good work out.
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