FROM THE EDITOR NILAVRONILL SHOOVRO

WELCOME

TO

OUR POETRY ARCHIVE

THE INSIDE STORY OF WRITING POEMS

Is there any formula to write a poem? I don’t know. Actually many people believe that writing a poem is a god gifted skill, very few writers have that real skill. And that skill is inherent. This belief actually denies the fact that one has to acquire this writing skill by learning and practice. Even to develop this skill a lot of research is also needed. There is another view, especially nowadays with the introduction of Internet and social sites, that writing poetry is the easiest way to step in the literary field. They recognize poetry as an expression of personal emotions or opinions and statements. So, there is no need of learning and practice, just the determination to write a poem is enough if one has ample time to settle down for writing. To them it is very simple task. There is no complexity in this endeavor at all.

Is it actually so simple writing up a poem? Is it as simple as writing down your memoirs? I think not. To write a poem you need to manage and harmonize various aspects of your faculties simultaneously. A poem is not mere association of words magnifying one’s emotions. It is actually a craftsmanship of highest caliber. One has to acquire this literary skill by continuous practice. Even mere literary skill is not also enough to write a poem. One has to develop his or her own philosophy in detail. Without this philosophical backup of inner vision real poetry would never emerge. So you need to develop this inner vision also. That will eventually shape up your wisdom to realize the eternal truth along with the progression of time. Time as an ingredient of our perception of the universe is of utmost important. If we want to proceed as a poet, we should have a clear perception of past present and future. This inner vision of a poet is largely dependent upon his perception of time as an eternal truth shaping not only human civilization but also the evolving universe.

If you truly want to be a poet, you must develop your own language, which should be different from your predecessors. This is really a hard task, not all the poets can achieve this. Now, how can one develop his or her own language? To do so, I think first of all we have to understand our literary tradition and as well as our cultural heritage. Without these, I don’t think one can truly evolve as a poet. Only along with the literary traditions and cultural heritage of your community you can find the right way to develop your own language with your own inbuilt signature. This will make you a significant poet of your time, as well as in the future of the literary tradition that will evolve along with your poetry. Developing your own language is therefore so important for becoming a poet.

To become a true poet, one has to understand his own time really well. If we wish to write poetry, we should know our surroundings well, with compassion enough to realize the main problems and the real possibilities of our society as a whole. If we cannot judge the maladies of our present time, if we cannot diagnose the inherent crises of humanity, how can we express the real pain and agony of our time? So a real poet has that capacity to feel his or her time within the soul through compassion, which can ultimately bring out the right emotions to develop his or her poetry.

Now, many of us do believe, writing down these emotions, beliefs, expressing these inner visions, in poetical form is enough to write a poem. No, not at all. How can that be? Poetry is not a statement or an article or memoirs. It is an art form. For which one needs to develop a certain way to breathe life into that form. This I think is the hardest task for anyone who wishes to write real poetry. To achieve this one has to learn the craftsmanship of writing poems. And believe me, this is no way an easy task. You need to put time and hard work into it. It actually takes years to master this skill. And only then you can write a poem; a poem which can light up the surroundings like a light house, to provide enough insight to its readers, to perceive their experiences intensely, to realize the infinite within the finite.

Yes, I’m sorry to say nowadays people who want to write poetry more or less remain reluctant about all these inner truths about poetry writing. Almost everybody thinks otherwise, that writing down the emotions or putting down the opinions or focusing the statements in verse is poetry. I’m afraid; this trend actually will blur our vision and limit our abilities to enjoy true poetry.

From The Editorial Desk

OPA

A

WORLDWIDE WRITERS’ WEB

PRESENTATION!

PUBLISHED BY

OPA

OUR

POETRY ARCHIVE

ONLINE MONTHLY POETRY JOURNAL

https://ourpoetryarchive.blogspot.com

email us to:

ourpoetryarchive@gmail.com

**************************************

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO

OUR POETRY ARCHIVE FEATURED

POET OF THE MONTH

JUNE 2019

ALICJA KUBERSKA: What does poetry mean to you?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: "You do not live without beauty", I said when my book ‘Amantes da neblina' (‘Lovers of the mist') was presented in 2008. The "Lovers of the mist" are the artists. You might not be aware, but you do not live without listening to music, poetry, or if you cannot look at a painting, a sculpture, a flower, a bright dawn or the starry sky. I think poetry is a physiological need such as breathing, feeding or drinking. A single piece of art has often saved me from depression and despair.

ALICJA KUBERSKA: What’s according to you the meaning of poetry in the contemporary world?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: There are many poets and poetic tendencies. However, as far as I have travelled and attended poetry festivals all over the world, poetry tends to be a bond of union and peace among peoples. Some years ago, when I was attending a poetry festival in Morocco, suddenly was I realizing that Moroccan, Spanish and Portuguese were celebrating poetry and friendship, though it looked strange that, in the past history, these people had been at war.

ALICJA KUBERSKA: Can you describe your creative process while writing a new poem?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: It is a blissful state. If I don't write, I'll get very upset. Writing poetry is absolutely necessary for my balance and therefore for my health. I love the challenges of writing, and especially when poetry comes to me, and the words keep flowing.

ALICJA KUBERSKA: Did it happen to you that a poem was just your dream?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: Dreams do matter in life and especially in poetry; they are the main source of poetic imagination, but it's not enough: a poet must master the techniques and create his own language.

ALICJA KUBERSKA: Tell us about your inspiration. What’re the most important subjects to you?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: I write frequently when I wake up in the morning as if I've brought something from the night and dreams. Often the subjects are related to poems that I was invited to write for literary magazines or poetic anthologies, or just something that comes to my mind. I'm a medical doctor and a Germanist. Therefore, all my experiences converge in poetry, in my passion for literature from various countries, and also for Classical Antiquity, Archaeology, History of Medicine and Medicine. But I transfigure things between every day and the dream, the filtered experience and unconscious breath that estabishes the link with the being, the world and the universe. In my view, Poetry is something that comes from the inside and that I can't explain. It is perhaps the truth, my truth, or just what comes out of my being.

MARIA MIRAGLIA: Which were the emotions that inspired your first verses?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: Memories of love and the sea inspired my first poems after a sailing boat ride. I think poetic transfiguration of reality was my first very allurement.

MARIA MIRAGLIA:  Was your aspiration to become a poet or did all happen by chance?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: I think I've always been a poet. Nevertheless, adverse circumstances only later allowed me to realize my poetic vocation.

MARIA MIRAGLIA: Who is the first person you read your poems to and why?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: I don't read most of my poems to anyone. Some years ago, I read my poems to my son but now he is very busy. Sometimes I read my poems to a friend.  

MARIA MIRAGLIA:  Have you published any poetic anthology, if so what did you feel the first time you got it in your hands?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: An anthology of my poetry ‘Poemas da noite incompleta' (‘Poems of the endless night') was published by Editorial Escrituras, in São Paulo, Brazil, 2010. The book was selected among the seven best books of the Portugal Telecom Prize. I've also organized several anthologies in honour of Portuguese relevant poets, such as Fiama Hasse Pais Brandão (together with Maria Teresa Dias Furtado), António Ramos Rosa, Albano Martins and António Salvado (together with Maria de Lourdes Barata and Alfredo Pérez de Alencart).  All these experiences were very positive.

MARIA MIRAGLIA: Who are the poets you prefer reading? Do you get inspiration from them?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: I like the best Poets. Among the contemporary Portuguese ones, I would mention Fernando Pessoa, Herberto Helder and António Ramos Rosa;  Friedrich Schiller, Friedrich Hölderlin, Rainer Maria Rilke, Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Valèry, Guillaume Appolinaire, Walt Whitman, W.B. Yeats, or Paul Celan, are among the foreign poets that I absolutely admire, just for a short selection. I have translated some of these poets into Portuguese.

APRILIA ZANK:  How important is accessibility of meaning to you? Do you challenge the readers to work hard to decipher your poems, or do you prefer transparency of meaning?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: I like to express myself with clarity, conveying properly what I want, so that the poem could be deep, challenging and, often, enigmatic.

APRILIA ZANK: What kind of poems do you write mostly? Do you have recurring themes, or are all your poems unique?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: I write poems on love, life, nature, death, sometimes starting from my life experiences. Sometimes I write on places and experiences that I really never lived. I can´t explain what I write nor why. I write on finity, infinity, projecting my feelings, disclosing my wounds, always pursuing the harmony of the Universe. I do have those recurrent themes, but I also like to write on new subjects.

APRILIA ZANK:  Do you think your poetry is typically feminine / masculine? If yes, in what way?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: I think my poetry is very feminine. Sometimes a dialogue with a male lover clearly identifies me as a woman, but I cannot identify other feminine trends.

APRILIA ZANK: Do you write mostly about yourself, or do you also have an open eye /ear for the issues of the world?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: When I write about myself, poetry transcends me. Issues of the world are frequently a subject. I think all the poets dream of bliss and a better and fair world.

APRILIA ZANK: In what way is your poetry different from that of other poets?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: My poetry conveys, in my own language, my experience, my aesthetic concern, and my vision of the world. What motivates me to write is my absolute need for beauty, reflection on myself, the others, death, the transcendent, and the issues of the world.

LEYLA IŞIK:  What are the main factors to make poetry real poetry?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: Real poetry is art. I read it once twice, you read it many times, and you still find out something new. Real poetry is neither easy nor plain. A poem must be consistent, and you must have something to say. I followed the advice that the composer Niccolò Paganini gave to a young composer. Paganini said something like “Just write something when you really have anything to say”.

LEYLA IŞIK:  Do you think imagery is important in poetry? Where does the importance of imagery begin in a poem, where does it end?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: The imagery is of central importance in my poetry; it is a key tool for artistic beauty, and for transfiguration and transcendence.

LEYLA IŞIK: What are the most used types of poetry in your country?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: I would say that there are many tendencies, some of them absolutely unhelpful. The good poets like Fernando Pessoa, Herberto Herder or António Ramos Rosa are still at the top of the best contemporary poetry.

LEYLA IŞIK: What’s important to be a good poet? To write good poems!

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: A poet must be talented. A poet is more than just a verse-maker.

LEYLA IŞIK: Who are the most important poets and their main properties nowadays?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: The choice is always personal. I've already written about my personal short selection.

DEBORAH BROOKS LANGFORD: Understanding poetry begins with visualizing the central images in the poem. What do you see, taste, smell, hear, and feel? What is the imagery of your poetry?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: My poetry appeals to the senses. Frequently classical music, especially enchanting music, by Wagner, Bruckner and Scriabin, inspires my poems. I also I've been inspired by travelling, mostly archaeological sites, and other arts, like painting and sculpture. I'm particularly fond of wild Nature, wildflowers, the cliffs, the sea, the boats, and everything that stirs my imagination.

DEBORAH BROOKS LANGFORD: What is the mood of your poetry? (Or How does it make you feel?)

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: I am incorrigibly optimistic, even when I write sad and desperate poems. In the end, light always prevails.

DEBORAH BROOKS LANGFORD: In your poetry who is the speaker of the poem? Are you speaking to yourself or to others?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: I write in the first person or in a dialogue with a ‘you' that may be the reader. I think when you publish, you always write to other people. Poetry is a privileged approach to others.

DEBORAH BROOKS LANGFORD: What is the message of your poetry? What messages do your poetry convey?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: My poems can shift from very pleasant to very dark metaphors or states of mind, but my message is usually a kind of sunshine, a message of hope, aesthetic fruition that any piece of art provides.

DEBORAH BROOKS LANGFORD: Does the internet and social media contribute to the success of your poetry? Is this the reason you write for?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: The internet has helped me a lot, especially Facebook, which is a wonderful way of keeping in touch with poets from distant places and languages. I have received many invitations to collaborate in anthologies and to attend poetry festivals from people that I've met on the internet. But pursuing success is not the main reason that leads me to write.

NILAVRONILL SHOOVRO:  Thank you so much dear poet for the interview. We would like to know your personal experience with OPA as a literary web journal. Would you like to share anything more with our readers?

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO: Poetry is a place of utopia, but I think it carries the best and most beautiful humanistic values that we should keep in mind when we face our strange and unfair world.

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO is a multilingual poet, Medicine Doctor,  translator and researcher, Vice-President of the Portuguese Pen Centre between 2012-2014, Portuguese Cultural Delegate of the Poetic Liceo of Benidorm, Honorary Member of the Circle of Mozambican Writers in the Diaspora. She published forty poetry books in Portugal, Brazil, Spain, France and USA, translations and essays. She has published forty-six books of poetry, along with translations and literary essays. She is editor of the literary journal "Espaço do Ser – Poesia, Tradução e Ensaio". Her poems are translated into twenty languages. She has organized anthologies, cultural events, and she is frequently invited for international poetry festivals. She was awarded several literary poetry prizes. She is a History of Medicine researcher, Director of the Department of History of Medicine of the Portuguese Medical Association since 2012, visiting Professor of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon, member of the Centre for History of the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon, member of the Researcher of the Lisbon National Museum of Archaeology, and collaborator and referee of scientific books and journals.

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO

POLLINATING SEEDS

Artists are they, loving the days and the nights,

the trees, the branches and the leaves,

fully entwined around their waist,

loving the insects, the birds,

feeding on the haze of the gods,

on the shadow of the spectres.

They are the personification of the flames,

the brightness, the coloured gems.

They are secret, living, eloquent stars

shedding their pollinating seeds

on the scented trail of the wind.

 

TATTOO

Endless hair, a shade of blood, wine of dates,

magical substances,

and we stood tattooed one on the other, forever lost.

Give me your hand. Who knows?

Maybe the roses will be sweet in the vertigo

of the night, the mane of fog,

or the verses that I write on malachite green.

Endless hair carrying a shade of blood, of fire,

like split lymph in a wandering mane.

Magical were the liquid snakes;

we lived among the seaweed, poisonous plants,

and light hummingbirds.

By that time, I liked apple juice,

strawberries, mushrooms;

you liked to talk about jasmine.

Endless hair carrying the sun, ice manes,

night wine,

we stood tattooed in the stars,

the cicadas writing their hymns

all over our bodies,

their songs rhyming like texts,

the sea packing away the shell of the dreams.

Endless hair, dark hair, bright hair;

we were waking up over the gardens of dew,

knowing nothing about the clouds,

the unique fusion,

the mist of jasmine.

Yet, something should be fulfilled.

 

THE WINE, THE PEARL

Bring me into the water of your

dreams,

in that green well that pulsates

in the constellations of breeze,

in the borders of the foam,

in the dust of the night.

Bring me the gentle word

that drives my memory

into the submerged song

that sublimates the world

in a sky flower.

Give me your sorceress net,

lend me the bow, the sun,

the salt, the gems,

give me the wine, a pearl

to drive away the extensive agony,

as if only the night existed

and we could breathe through

the stellar lungs,

by the trees and a lotus flute

in the bright centre

of the morning glaze.

 

COSMOGONY

In the beginning, a large empty

flower began to stir.

We were the earth and the sky,

moving in the shade.

In our story, there were birds,

mountains and haze.

Like Spring sprouts, we moved

across the sun and the rainbows.

In the slime of shells and corals,

I heard your first words,

not knowing how to stop the purple,

the rivers and the sky

in the flower of the violins.

We were born from a sweet

cosmogony.

We came to each other

out of a rebellious desire,

playing an ancient game

near a river, a popler,

a melodious lyre.

 

DREAMLIKE SYMPHONY

Your hands are gentle, carrying the aroma

of flowery linden trees,

cutting the bread and the sadness.

You walk through the path of the angels.

You know about harvesting,

wheat fields,

and your silence echoes among symphonies

of Saint-Saëns.

When your eyes look down, you mourn

the syncopated sunflowers,

the wasted sun, the loose sand,

the shrivelled bushes.

Reaping the first fruits of joy,

I go into a forest of sphinxes,

imagining my hands, your hands

in verses flowing,

the prism of light shining

in flashes of gold,

dreamlike symphonies, gentle syllables.

Your eyes were imaginary flowers.

 

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO

MARIA DO SAMEIRO BARROSO is a multilingual poet, Medicine Doctor,  translator and researcher, Vice-President of the Portuguese Pen Centre between 2012-2014, Portuguese Cultural Delegate of the Poetic Liceo of Benidorm, Honorary Member of the Circle of Mozambican Writers in the Diaspora. She published forty poetry books in Portugal, Brazil, Spain, France and USA, translations and essays. She has published forty-six books of poetry, along with translations and literary essays. She is editor of the literary journal "Espaço do Ser – Poesia, Tradução e Ensaio". Her poems are translated into twenty languages. She has organized anthologies, cultural events, and she is frequently invited for international poetry festivals. She was awarded several literary poetry prizes. She is a History of Medicine researcher, Director of the Department of History of Medicine of the Portuguese Medical Association since 2012, visiting Professor of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon, member of the Centre for History of the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon, member of the Researcher of the Lisbon National Museum of Archaeology, and collaborator and referee of scientific books and journals.

ZANKA ZANA BOSKOVIC COVEN

ZANKA ZANA BOSKOVIC COVEN

ELEGY

You don't know

How long can be

The moment

Of loneliness

While I wait for

Your only word

Drawing in

Your silence

You have no idea

Of thousands of

Little drops

Of shivering sadness

When you are

Far away

Still sitting

By my side

You cannot imagine

How deep can be

The sound of

My longing

For your smile

You don't even

Look at me

Lost in your world

So, better go

And when you

Discover that tinny

Missing something

That was love

Do not return

Offering me your

Empty regrets

BOND

I see my mom

In my eyes

The light of love

And care

Always with me

So I dare

To face the wind

And snow

I have a courage

And she

Knows how

I feel my dad

In my smile

The stream

Of life

Even if sometimes

It can hurt like

Sharply knife

Or so easy

As sun light

No sorrow

No fight

In my face

There are both

Or each of tham

Has their place

So strong

They are in me

Built my cells

By their own

Unique bond

So they will

Never be gone

I already passed

Their stream

To my own son

FRIENDSHIP

Two heads that

Trust each other

Four eyes that

Look in the

Same direction

Open hearts

For secrets

Open hands

To help

Smiles

To cherish

Company

To share

Two worlds that

Support

Each other

Universe at

Glance

Big burdens

To bear

Sincere loyalty

To swear

So many stories

To share

Too many ideas

To dare

The same path

To walk

So many troubles

To talk

Coffe or tea

To drink

The same thounghts

To think

Never to feel

Alone

Hours and hours on

Phone

So strong is this

Bond

When that one you

Fond

ZANKA ZANA BOSKOVIC COVEN

ZANA COVEN ( Zanka - Zana Boskovic Coven ) was born in Sarajevo, ex Yugoslavia , now Bosnia Hercegovina. She grew up and studied in her home city and graduated in English language and literature. She moved to Belgrade for further studies and than to Salamanca (Spain) and Milano (Italy). She worked as a translator, pedagogist, cultural mediator, coordinator od multicultural projects. She is also a painter and writer. Married and mother of grown up son. Writing poetry from school days till now she started to public her works only recently. She writes poetry in several languages and dialects but also short stories and travel books and diaries. She published her first poetry book " Zaboravljena u stihu"  (  "Forgotten in verses") 2017, in Croatian, " Lo dico alla Luna"  ( " I will tell it to the moon ) 2018 in Italian and " Entre sol y sombra"  ( " Between  the sun and the shadow") 2018 in Spanish. Her second book of poetry " Jedna Ljubav  ( "One love") in Croatian language, is in print right now. Her poetry is in many anthologies, almanacs, poetry magazines and other publications.Het poetry " Children of the war" is in Antology of world poetry and the same poetry won the second prize in International competition " Città di Galateo " in Italy. She recently won a first prize in Haiku category in European Championship of poetry in Romania. Working and living with her family between Milano and Barcelona.