Sunday, December 1, 2019

IPSITA GANGULI


WELCOME
TO
OUR POETRY ARCHIVE

A DISCUSSION ON WHAT IS POETRY

“He who draws noble delights from sentiments of poetry is a true poet, though he has never written a line in all his life.” — George Sand, from The Devil's Pool.

“It is a test [that] genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.” — T. S. Eliot, from the essay "Dante."

“To be a poet is a condition, not a profession.” — Robert Graves.

“Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity.” — William Wordsworth,

Poetry has been described as " literature that evokes a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience or a specific emotional response through language chosen and arranged for its meaning, sound, and rhythm."

The earliest poetry is believed to have been recited or sung, employed as a way of remembering oral history. Poetry in its earliest form exists in the form of chants and hymns Many of the poems surviving from the ancient world are recorded prayers, or stories about religious subject matter, but they also include historical accounts, instructions for everyday activities, love songs, etc. A rhythmic and repetitive form would make a long story easier to remember and retell and many ancient works, like the Vedas and even epics like Iliad and Odyssey appear to have been composed in poetic form to aid memorization and oral transmission.

Classical thinkers employed classification as a way to define and assess the quality of poetry. Notably, Aristotle's Poetics describes the three genres of poetry: the epic, comic, and tragic, Later aestheticians identified three major genres: epic poetry, lyric poetry and dramatic poetry, treating comedy and tragedy as subgenres of dramatic poetry.

The development of modern poetry is generally seen as having started at the beginning of the 20th century and extends into the 21st century. The development of literacy gave rise to more personal, shorter poems intended to be read by an absent audience. In more recent times, the introduction of electronic media and the rise of the poetry reading have led to a resurgence of performance poetry.

With increasing digitalisation, there has been a rise in the use of poetry to promote social causes. With the accessibility of technology and social media, it is easy to share short poems and spread them across the internet, People who write poetry are generally sensitive and aware of the issues around them. They use their personal experiences and express themselves so as to provide a lens to these issues. Similarly, art too has been a constant form of inspiration to the poet and poetry has often inspired Art But perhaps the fondest association of poetry is that with love. Poems are perfect for expressing romantic love, a lovely friendship, or a love that’s complicated.

Whatever may be the inspiration to write poetry there are over a hundred poetic forms to express oneself. Apart from the popular forms like haiku or sonnet, there are exotic formats like Acrostic, Anagrammatic, Blitz, Bop, Cinquain, Descort, Haibun, Imayo, Kyriellw, Nonnet, Pantoum,Rondine, Taitogram and so on so forth.

However very simply put, if I am asked What is poetry to me, I will have to say, that it is an expression of emotions that resonate, that touched a certain internal chord and stays on like a lingering fragrance. While the craft of poetry may be a beautiful embellishment, the heart of poetry is what touches the other. While the play of language may be a literary point of discussion, it is the feel of poetry that stays.

While heavyweight references may create a sense of awe, it is the simple flow which stirs emotions. Isn’t that the most poetic point? The repetitive simplicity that lingers. Lingers on within one's heart and memory. Poetry is that, what hits a mark. Takes you along. Makes you rise and fall with its crescendo and decrescendo. Brings a tear to the eye, because we start owning the emotion, Brings Peace and hope on a dark day, and dreams for a vision, painting a picture.

"I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze."

~ Daffodils by William Wordsworth.

"Forward, the Light Brigade!”
Was there a man dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
Someone had blundered.
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

~ Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Lord Tennyson

"It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul"

~ Invictus by William Ernest Henley

And in more recent times...

"I love you more than I can say.
Try as I do, it hasn’t gone away.
I hoped it would once, and I hope so still.
Someday, I’m sure, it will.
No glimpse, no news, no name will stir me then.
But when? But when?"

~ What's in it by Vikram Seth.

A powerful passionate imagery runs through these poems, far more soul stirring than play of language or stylised structure. It whips up emotions, visions, feelings an brings hope.

It lingers
It resounds
It reverberates
It resonates....


And that is the essence of poetry

Ipsita Ganguli
From The Editorial Desk
OPA
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WORLDWIDE WRITERS’ WEB
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ONLINE MONTHLY POETRY JOURNAL
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SOFIA SKLEIDA


OUR POETRY ARCHIVE FEATURED
POET OF THE MONTH

SOFIA SKLEIDA 


DECEMBER 2019


ALICJA KUBERSKA: What does poetry mean to you?

SOFIA SKLEIDA:
The term derives from an ancient Greek word, poiesis, "making". Is a form of literature that uses aesthetic qualities of language. Poetry means raising spirit and soul! It means joy, creativity, empathy, cultural unification, peoples brotherhood!


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

SOFIA SKLEIDA:
"Wherever my theories went, I found that a poet had already gone there"
(Sigmund Freud, 1856-1939, Austrian psychiatrist).

In today's increasingly globalized world, poets often adapt forms, styles and techniques from diverse cultures and languages. In my opinion, this is a great advantage for us, to be able to use poetry for peaceful purposes. Because, as it is known, poetry and every form of art is beyond any place and time and can lead to universal and humanitarian unification.


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

SOFIA SKLEIDA: In my opinion, the key for each writer is to have the right stimulus, internal or external, that can lead to the inspiration of a worthwhile work. It is a really difficult project that requires responsibility, patience, intellectual alertness, and a free spirit.


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

SOFIA SKLEIDA: Τhis is something that didn’t happen yet, in  all my writing career. I hope in the future it will be an extra opportunity for beautiful spiritual productions.


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

SOFIA SKLEIDA: The source of inspiration   for me is everything that is relevant to my world.


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

SOFIA SKLEIDA: The intense frustration I got from the big love of my life. It was the first and defining factor that led me to write my first verses.


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

SOFIA SKLEIDA: The truth is that I've always liked to write, not necessarily poetry. But I had never imagined to deal so much with poetry. Thanks, God, for this generous blessing!


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

SOFIA SKLEIDA: Initially my twin sister, the tireless companion of my life, who always follows my dreams and my desires!


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

SOFIA SKLEIDA: Six of my poetry collections have already been published, Thanks God. Whenever a new work is born, I feel as excited as the first time I got my first book in my hands! A wonderful feeling that makes me fill with joy and intense emotion!


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

SOFIA SKLEIDA: I don't have any particular preference. I read all kinds of poetry, poets from all over the world, and more generally anything that excites me and may interests me.


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?

SOFIA SKLEIDA: It is true that some of my poems are easier to read and more comprehensible than others which require deep analysis. When I am writing I try to be myself. A prerequisite for an author is   to have his own style.


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

SOFIA SKLEIDA: The themes of my poems are free and aren’t subject to restrictions. I believe that a poet will have an indomitable spirit to succeed   the desired results.


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

SOFIA SKLEIDA: I don΄t believe that there is a poem that is addressed only to men or women, but on the contrary, they express both sexes.


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

SOFIA SKLEIDA: Νo, I'm not writing exclusively for me. It would be unfair and very restrictive for an artistic nature that is plagued by many unanswered questions.


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

SOFIA SKLEIDA: I try as much as I can to be myself and not copy other poets, which is sometimes difficult, because we usually tend to identify ourselves with something else.


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

SOFIA SKLEIDA: There are some quality features which are really important for a writer, like humility, faithfulness, persistence, effort, prayer, honesty, persuasive disposition, and other.


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

SOFIA SKLEIDA: This largely depends on the individual style of writing.  Imagination plays a decisive role because it opens channels for communication with the outside world, according to one's intellectual potential.


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

SOFIA SKLEIDA: Since 1945 onwards the free verse prevailed and rooted in modern Greek literature, offering excellent and masterful poems, features of modern poetry. The previous time dominated the rhyme.


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

SOFIA SKLEIDA: Attention to detail, patience, perseverance, strong will, intense emotions, discipline, clarity, open to changes, passion for reading and travelling.


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

SOFIA SKLEIDA: There are many notable poets all over the world, but I would like to talk about my home country. Kavvadias, Kavafis  Saxtouris, Elytis, Seferis, Anagnostakis, Varnalis, Empirikos, Brettakos  are some important Greek  poets. In my opinion, all of them use descriptive and vivid language, are Imaginative, creative,  recall memories of related experiences to the reader or listener, provoke thought, cause an emotional response and so on....


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?

SOFIA SKLEIDA: Exploring imagery in poetry, is the primary vehicle that poets use to transport their readers to a new experience.
The imagery of my poetry is   to try to convey my feelings with the utmost relevance, pictures, tensions, emotional vibrations, using visually, descriptive or figurative language.


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

SOFIA SKLEIDA: First of all, a poem is an expression of emotion. This means, that you have to engage your feelings when you write or read a poem. While poetry engages your emotions, it does so in a rational and structured way.  Poetry relaxes, soothes, calms the soul, teaches... Εven if my lyrics take the form of a social protest, I always try to have a hopeful message at the end. It is my great inner need. As Fernando Pessoa, (1888-1935, Portuguese poet & writer) rightly argued , "Literature is a  proof that life is not enough".


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

SOFIA SKLEIDA: Μost of the times I pick myself up and sometimes I reach out to a potential listener. It depends on the message I want to convey.


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

SOFIA SKLEIDA: My poetry mainly tries to convey the aspect, that our life is short and that everything in this world is time-bound and not immortal.


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

SOFIA SKLEIDA: I think that the social media contribute to the success if there are specific conditions. It is a wrong for a poet to write with the prospect of gaining money and to become known. Time shows what   lasts and what doesn’t.


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?

SOFIA SKLEIDA: OPA, as a literary web journal, is excellent! There’s a long list of advantages associated with OPA literary web journal. First of all, it is highly credible, authoritative and offer clarity. This influences our works, overall quality, making them reliable, as well as enriched with facts and truths. Thus, offer evidence for the claims of the poets, whose poems are hosted on this site. Offer clarity and unlimited visibility. Provides great reading with a wealth of knowledge, focused research and broadened perspective. Warm congratulations wholeheartedly! I wish   more   success and valuable projects!




SOFIA SKLEIDA



SOFIA SKLEIDA

Mental Contact

One paper, two notes
two words
they are enough ...
The estrus shy kid in the corner.
Innocence is lost as the time contract expands.
The rain refreshes the grass
and the pure childlike soul thirsts for learning.









I Feel You

You sneak through the glittering windows.
You swirl on classic wooden structures.
I've imagined you on lonely evenings,
on solitary walks,
with unanswered rhetorical questions.
The rinsing of the rain will resurrect the delusional heartbeats
and the soul will be lifted by the weight of the inner flood.








Heresy

Dew drops are our hopes.
The time is running out suffering in the present.
The sighs dry in the sun of justice.
Empty wagons the thoughts.
Heretical the reflections.
And this impatience disturb the line of reasoning.
The odes sound.
The time has come!








Travelers

This light in the crevice ...
affirms courage
Demand curve looking for a way out.
The grilles are smuggled in
Like the night trains with the curious travellers.
The weight of silence spreads.
Redeemer and detector
into the illusion of an attractive
world
that fascinates you.
You surrender
You are proclaimed a sovereign revolutionary!








Ode

Our dreams have been shattered.
They could not stand to suffer on a lonely canvas.
They crossed the land border
to paint the youth of the world
with indelible intellectual touches
The borders inaccessible, unattended.
The common zone in protest.
The single market grinning in our demands.
and the “New Laws” * are struggling to break the boundaries of time
groping our wounds ...

*The term “New laws” refers to the fourth and final part of Justinian's legislative work

SOFIA SKLEIDA

SOFIA SKLEIDA was born in Athens. She is graduate of the Faculty of Filology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.  She has a MA in Pedagogy , a PhD in Comparative Pedagogy and she is also a postdoctoral candidate (Faculty of Theology, University of Athens). He has attended a number of training courses in special education and teaching, and especially in the teaching of literarure. He has also been trained and certified in the Braille by the Center for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind. Her scientific interests involve Teaching, School Psychology, Special Education, Ancient and New Greek Literature. She has worked as a translator in the Greek Embassy in Italy. In the Greek Community of Rome and in other institutions she taught the Greek language in adults as a foreign language. She taught also the Italian language in private institutions and the Greek language in the Italian School of Athens the last years. She has taught the lesson of Judicial Psychology-Psychiatry in the Faculty of Police Officers. She publishes articles in the Greek and international scientific journals, in conference papers and chapters books. She has been awarded for her participation in poetry and literary competitions in Greece and abroad. She has been elected and distinguished as ambassadress of Culture for Greece by the International and Cultural Organization Universum Academy Switzerland (May 2016- December 2018, Lugano, Switzerland). She is a member of the International Literary Organization Poets of the World, member of the International Literature Competition Universum, member of the Jury at the annual Literature Contest for the poetry and short story of the Cultural Association “Oikopolis” and also a member of the jury of the 1st Panhellenic Literary Competition of Prose,  "Kefalos". She published her first collection of pοetry (Thessaloniki, 2014) entitled Dream of Oasis, which has been translated and published in Italy in 2017 (won the second prize in a international competition in Milan). A poem of the same collection became a song.  Her first Fairy tale entitled Geometrini published in 2016 and her second fairy tale entitled The Kingdom of Joy was published in 2018.Recently were published her second and third collection of poetry entitled Neologisms and Melismos respectively. She is currently publishing four books titled Ιn the Mediterranean, Poetic Reflections, Cappadocian theological references in handwritten verses and The teaching of classical languages in the Italian secondary education.She is a regular member at the Panhellenic Union of Writers.



ADOLF P. SHVEDCHIKOV



ADOLF P. SHVEDCHIKOV

How You Want To Be
In Love With The
Terrestrial World

How you want to be in love with the terrestrial world,
Capture a concise moment forever,
To go to another world enlightened,
To dissolve in the bottomless of “never”.
How to stock up on a wonderful elixir,
Without becoming a slave to a barren bustle,
Step by step, to grasp the bliss of the world,
Revealing the secret of wondrous beauty.





How Nice You Are
At Night

How nice you are at night,
The nightingales would sing until morning,
Whenever they looked at you
Under this full moon!
How nice you are, my goodness to be in bed,
Oh that gentle pastel color,
Portrait of the heavenly goddess!
Impenetrable forest of eyelashes,
The beating of voluptuous breasts,
Your gaze, languid and domineering,
Love knows no bounds!





The Errow Of Love Overtook
At The End

The arrow of love overtook at the end,
And the heart is not able to break
Stopped, why the hell are you waiting,
It's not evening yet; you can still live!
Remember how you burned in youth
How annually in the wild spring?
Shepherds sang the pipes until morning,
You are not gray-haired; you are young in soul!
Let them say it's reckless,
What should match the years,
But if our feeling is mutual,
I will not give my last love!





How Often Do We Forget
With You

How often do we forget with you:
Life is short
And we are wasting minutes in vain,
Centuries run.
You did not have time to enjoy,
Already dawn...
How long will it pour
Eye clear light?
So never forget:
Life is a short hour,
To love, do not tire
At present, now!






Everything Happened In
An Indtant

Everything happened in an instant,
I saw the light of your eyes
And the soul came together,
And the hour of peace came.
No, the thunderstorms didn’t blind us,
Thunder didn’t rumble in the sky,
We enjoyed, we loved
And we began to build our own house.
Now I look in the eyes I'm tender
Everything that I wanted to find in them,
They are bottomless and boundless
They are all my roads, all paths...






Talk My Friend With Me

Talk my friend with me,
Talk my darling
You always say that alright,
When we roam under the moon...
Talk my friend with me
About something pure and heavenly,
Tell me how pretty I am,
How are you in love, oh my goodness!
Talk my friend with me,
Kiss my crimson lips
Let play the silver trumpets,
Let everything breathe in the spring...
Talk my friend with me,
I burn with desire,
Talk about what I don't know,
Don't be silent, my dear friend!






Believe Me
We Do Need Words

Believe me, we do need words,
And if you want to know everything
That which is unknown to the mind,
What you only comprehend with your heart
Don’t talk about anything,
Sink in the bottomless of my eyes,
Fly all night until dawn,
The wings of love are restless!
Don’t be jealous, dear,
Words only hurt the heart
Can't you understand
What attracts the early dawn?
No need to swear or repeat
About fidelity, if you love,
You can’t live in a different way,
You will never forget me!
Love is an unknown flight
Who will describe her verbally?
And everyone is infinitely happy
Who lives for her, who breathes her!


ADOLF P. SHVEDCHIKOV



ADOLF P. SHVEDCHIKOV: Russian scientist, poet and translator. Born May 11, 1937 in  Shakhty, Russia. In 1960 he graduated from Moscow State University, Department of Chemistry. Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1967. Senior researcher at the Institute of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow. Since 1997 - the chief chemist of the company Pulsatron Technology Corporation, Los Angeles, California, USA. Doctor of Literature World Academy of Arts and Letters. He published more than 150 scientific papers and about 600 of his poems indifferent International Magazines of poetry in Russia,USA, Brazil, India, China, Korea, Japan, Italy, Malta, Spain,France, Greece, England and Australia. He published also 22 books of poetry. His poems have been translated into Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Chinese, Japanese, and Hindi languages.He is the Member of International Society of Poets, World Congress of Poets, International Association of  Writers and Artists, A. L. I. A. S. (Associazione Letteraria Italo-Australiana Scrittori, Melbourne, Australia). Adolf P. Shvedchikov is known also for his translation of English poetry ("150 English  Sonnets of XVI-XIX Centuries". Moscow. 1992. "William Shakespeare. Sonnets." Moscow. 1996) as well as translation of many modern poets from Brazil, India, Italy, Greece, USA, England, China and Japan. In 2013 he was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature.