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

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WORLDWIDE WRITERS’ WEB

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