It is all in the mind

I finished reading Mary Oliver's A Poetry Handbook (1994) a few days back. The book now rests on my desk, with many of its pages dog-eared and multiple lines of text underlined in different colours. (When I want to mark a portion of text that has had a significant impact on me, I grab the...

First comes craft, then poem

I’ve been finding it difficult to write poems. It’s not for a lack of inspiration; life is full of strange and moving moments that are suited to poetry. I feel them intensely, and there is intent—both of which are needed to write a poem—but then, my words just don't sound or sit right (if I...

‘Hymn to Evil’ gives hope

Poetry heals me. It does so by letting me dissect my state of being through shiny, sharp word scalpels: Cutting open a wound in this case can be just as curative as sealing it. Recent events, not to mention the hell of a ride we all are on, made me want to read a poem...

Will be back soon: Gone Lookin’

Fear is a good thing[…]fear is what drives us to take risks and extend ourselves beyond our normal limits, and any writer who feels he is standing on safe ground is unlikely to produce anything of value. - Paul Auster, "Invisible" Dear Void, I have felt fear this past nine weeks. A lot of fear....

On why poetry could save me

There are moments in life, rare ones, when you feel intimately connected with the inanimate. You cannot believe that something that can't move -- as still as that pen that refuses to write your words for you -- has moved you. I had one of these moments last night. I didn't go looking for it...

Solar by Philip Larkin teaches

Solar Suspended lion faceSpilling at the centreOf an unfurnished skyHow still you stand,And how unaidedSingle stalkless flowerYou pour unrecompensed The eye sees youSimplified by distanceInto an origin,Your petalled head of flamesContinuously exploding.Heat is the echo of yourGold. Coined there amongLonely horizontalsYou exist openly.Our needs hourlyClimb and return like angels.Unclosing like a hand,You give for ever....

Why so serious?

They say the seeds of what we will do are in all of us, but it always seemed to me that in those who make jokes in life the seeds are covered with better soil and with a higher grade of manure. - Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast I wish I had the courage and...

Causal relationships

My husband and I deciding to go out and stay out for more than 3 hours will cause it to rain. It has been so since we started dating, which was seven years ago. So now we have enough data to plot graphs and show that the effect is not a coincidence. All we need...

To achieve… Picasso’s prolificacy

I first saw Picasso's works in Vienna, then extensively in Barcelona and finally when I went to Málaga - the artist's birthplace. There, in the Museo Picasso Málaga, I think l finally connected with him. The art felt personal and the presentation intimate. I understood Picasso's message and creative process better. Around corners, printed on walls, were...