One who attended the elective more or less regularly would hardly deny about the impact/influence
Crafting Poems has generated. Even as a visual artist, the course made me think how poetry as a
medium of expression could be so direct and can have an edge over other forms of expressions.
Whether its about reading, composing, listening, responding etc.I realised the gradual change
taking place in my approaches in relation to these aspects. I would try to reflect upon the journey
starting from the first poem till my twelfth poem in this response.
The love poetry workshop really broaden the understanding. It developed certain new ideas at the
same time de-established the old notions about the thing we all perceived as "love". It was really
fascinating to look back at the lives of poets such as Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Agah Shahid Ali etc. Coming
across the idea of Ishq-i-majazi(metaphorical love ) and Ishq-i-haqiqi (true or divine love) through
their work kind of exposed their tricky relationships with their "loved ones". Nazm and Ghazals in
terms of their freedom and structure opened more possibilities for compositions. How can one forget
the magic of similes? Adding a pinch of humor and mockery! Personally I was never that much
conscious about enjambement. I have always been using it way too conveniently. One would more
or less agree with Katherine when it comes to syntax, space, sound, speed, surprise and sense in
relation to enjambement..
Ghazal workshops were equally intriguing. Discovering so much between the matla and the makhta:
experimenting and exploring with Radif, Kafiya, Alfazon ki Bandhish(arrangement of sound and
words) and Khayalaton ki nazakat(sophistication of feelings and ideas). And revisiting the classics
like "Dil Cheez Kya Hai" was a visual treat which acted like a cherry on the top. Transition from
Ghazals to city poetry was indeed smooth. However, questions like: where in the city one felt loved,
unsafe etc made some surprising and shocking revelations. And weaving such ideas of insecurities,
nostalgia etc into poem was a challenge in itself. After analysing my own city poem and after
receiving the feedback, I realised the scope how one can play with ambiguity, representation and
personification to put forth the objective or the idea which the poem encapsulates. Mapping
whatever happens in the city through words was enthralling but at the same time reading the work of
T.S Eliot, Manglesh Dabral and Duffy gave such fragile, isolating and existential vibes which were
not hard to resonate with.
And when we talk about resonation, one would think about the political poetry workshops where we
came across two models where personal resonation and public aspirations came forth. Different kind
of political poetries ranging from I speak up bluntly to I see Kashmir from New Delhi at midnight
gave a sense of concentrism: how politics works on different levels. Few of the political poems
written by other classmates really shook the core and the way they used and exercised free verse in
their compositions added more spark to it. Well by this time almost 6 poems made it to the blog
which more or less incorporated all the elements, methods etc that were taught in the class.
realised I had a taste for a villanelle even though I did not have literature background. Nothing broke
my heart like One art and Mad girl's love song did. The refrains, rhymes used in the five tercets and
a concluding quatrain made the central idea/objective of the poem profound. This form of poetry was
indeed efficient enough in inducing the feelings of the poet into the minds of the listener/reader.
Evidently the refrains were impactful.
The prosody workshop was extremely important and helpful since it opened more possibilities in
relation to the pattern of the rhythm and sound. However, it is sometimes still difficult to guess the
meter of the poem. Another interesting thing which came across while composing a nonet right after
the prosody workshop was the kind of world it opens for you. Because of the syllable constraint,
something unique happened with the theme/idea of the poem.
The reprise political poetry session too opened a new dimension when aspect of performativity was
attached to it. It was so evident from the recital of Rafeef Ziadah and Hussain Haidry, how their body
was experiencing the poem. How each and every word coming out of their mouth was making such
deep impression and how it was influencing the whole ambience. The mood of the poem kind of
creates a muscle memory for the poet. For example, the poet kind of makes some decisions in mind
about which particular words and lines or stanzas he would stress more so it could cast a deeper
impact in comparison to any usual recital. Nitoo Das and her poems derived some real creative
streak out of us whether it was about persona poetry, her "How to" ones or ones centred on the
objects of daily use. It really embossed the way how one could actually bring things around us to life
through words. Other of her work centered around the idea of sexuality, protest, ecology
(specifically birds and lake) etc. proved how poets can be versatile and experiment with different
genres. Her poetry reading session was even more dynamic than her poems. Absolutely loved the
way she draws the line between a poet and a literature professor.
Working on poems in groups was exciting too! Always staying with that one line.Or just changing a
word line or the whole stanza at times. It was indeed a fortune that few of us could make it to the old
railway station for place poetry. Listening to poems and songs close to the heart of people in the
green field on a windy day was equally mesmerising. Feedback and response by Nitoo Das were
pretty enlightening. Everyone grasped something from her “act of love”. I guess what is also worth
mentioning is the list of the poems and the articles in the course structure and overall pedagogy
which undoubtedly helped all of the aspiring poets of crafting poems to grow in certain way. Hope
that everyone sticks to the bond that they established with poems and poets during the semester.
