poettrymatters-blog

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do not look for healing at the feet of those who broke you

rupi kaur

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This week we’re talking about a young modern poet who took over the world with her first book she published when she was 21. Rupi Kaur is an Indian-born Canadian bestselling poet who uses very modern ways to express her thoughts and emotions. Her poems are short, lines don’t rhyme and the topics she is covering are popular in modern society. She writes about feminism, body positivity, romance, mental health etc. Her work is very appealing to the younger generations who grew up with the internet and understand that kind of poetry. She has just recently published her other book “The Sun and Her Flowers.” 

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Goodbye, my friend, goodbye. My love, you are in my heart. It was preordained we should part And be reunited by and by. Goodbye: no handshake to endure. Let's have no sadness — furrowed brow. There's nothing new in dying now Though living is no newer.

Sergei Yesenin was one of the most famous Russian poets of the modern age. He lived and wrote during the Russian revolution, which he supported in the beginning, but later got disappointed in its outcomes. The poem “Goodbye, My Friend, Goodbye” was his last one. He wrote it in a hotel room with his own blood and committed suicide right after that. In the poem, he addresses his friend, his love. He is telling her that there is no use in crying about him leaving, as they will be reunited soon. With the two last lines “There's nothing new in dying now, Though living is no newer” it is obvious that Yesenin didn’t see any hope for getting out of the despair he was in. 

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Dance when you're broken open. Dance when you've torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you're perfectly free.

Dance, Rumi

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In the heaven of your words The sun does not set

Vasko Popa, from “Far Within Us” in “Vasko Popa. Selected Poems.”, translated from Serbian by Anne Pennington (via finita--la--commedia)

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I loved you; and perhaps I love you still, The flame, perhaps, is not extinguished; yet It burns so quietly within my soul, No longer should you feel distressed by it. Silently and hopelessly I loved you, At times too jealous and at times too shy. God grant you find another who will love you As tenderly and truthfully as I.

I Loved You, by Alexander Pushkin

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“…

Tonight I can write the saddest lines. I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.

Through nights like this one I held her in my arms I kissed her again and again under the endless sky. She loved me sometimes, and I loved her too. How could one not have loved her great still eyes. Tonight I can write the saddest lines. To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her. To hear the immense night, still more immense without her. And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture. What does it matter that my love could not keep her. The night is shattered and she is not with me. …”

Pablo Neruda is one of the most famous poets of the 20th century. He was born in Chile in 1904. Even though he was politically active throughout his whole life, his poetry was based on deep emotions and touching descriptions. In his poetry he would make connections between women and nature, often by using explicit imagery. However, he did that in such a delicate and sensuous way, while never losing the sense of respect for any of his subjects, that he became one of the first poets to be accepted for writing something in that manner. In his poems he would write about his past love affairs as well as his experiences in Chile.  

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I long to speak the deepest words I have to say to you; but I dare not, for fear you should laugh.

The Gardener, Rabindranath Tagore

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“Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.”

Charles Bukowski - one of the greatest American poets of all time, and, definitely, one of the most memorable. His brutal honesty and violent, often explicit, but also realistic imagery stay in reader’s minds long after they’ve finished reading the poem. In his work he criticizes the modern American society that has been captured by the urban life.

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“A Fallen Leaf” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

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Hi everyone and welcome to my blog :)

First, I want to tell you a little bit about myself, because that will help you understand my thoughts and analysis better… My name is Jovana, I am 19 years old and I come from Belgrade, Serbia, but I’m currently going to Casper College in Casper, Wyoming. People who know me would probably describe me as a volleyball player who looks like a typical basketball player and does photography from time to time. I don’t think anybody knows that I am actually a poetry lover. My love for poetry was born in high school thanks to my teacher who taught me how to understand it. When I found out that in every single poem I’ve read I found something that I could relate to it somehow made me feel hopeless and less lonely. Then I started reading poems just trying to find something that’s similar to my life and my emotions. When you get skilled enough, or as I like to say it, when you start enjoying the act of reading itself, all those lines and verses will find their way to you. Then, everything you read will have a soothing and calming effect on your mind and soul. The more poems I read, the freer I feel, because they just let your mind be creative without limits, and lets you explore yourself and others, which is the opportunity we don’t get a lot in this modern world. This is a time where our possibilities are being presented as infinite, but we have never been more restricted and templated.

I think that all poetry readers can be divided into two categories: the ones who appreciate form over meaning, and other’s who like it better the other way around. I definitely more enjoy those poems where the author was paying more attention to poetic words he was using than to what he’s going to say exactly and how it is going to be understood. My three favorite poets are: Pablo Neruda, Francisco Petrarca and a Serbian poet Vladislav Petkovic Dis.  

I’ll try to post weekly and in every post I will write about one poet or one epoch, and I will analyze a few poems that are related to the topic as well.

Hopefully, on this blog, people who love poetry will be able to find their safe place where they can enjoy some of the world’s most famous artworks or even discover some of the new artists from different parts of the world. And for those who are not fans of this form of art, I hope this blog will make them realize why poetry matters. :)