April, I hear, is National Poetry Month.
Only in the United States, technically,
but we can, we should appropriate it for the global village too.
And so here I am, wondering how to celebrate NPM this morning
While at my desk, waiting for my phone to charge
And the laundry cycle to finish.
Maybe I’ll cook up a little rhyme and get it out of my system.
If I don’t write an ode
My head will explode.
That’s bad. I should leave this sort of thing to the pros
And stick to prose.
Maybe I’ll tell you what comes to mind when I think poetry.
I think of how the word reminds me of a little boy
Being told by his mother to make an attempt at writing The Raven.
“Poe… try!”
I hope you’re not one of those who sneer at wordplay.
I remember how I used to love the name Christina Georgina Rossetti.
Such a balanced name, three syllables in each part, bobbing like a boat.
How could such a child not grow up to be a poet?
Or Poetess.
The author of The Raven…
Meet a Thomas Hardy heroine.
I like talking about poetry because of the terms, that special glossary.
Phrases like “iambic pentameter” that you don’t use anywhere else,
certainly not in daily life.
I’ll have a side of iambic pentameter to go, please.
But wait! We do use “refrain” and “meter”, even “rhyme”
Even after we grow up and forget the poems in English class
And “refrain” comes to mean “don’t do this, without reason or rhyme.”
Poetry turns into practicality, a kati roll to munch on the way,
An online banking transaction you do in your pyjamas.
I wonder how we lose poetry so easily
Despite being so delighted, as kids, by owls and pussycats
In beautiful pea-green boats.
Despite the hard alliterations of The Eagle –
He clasps the crag with crooked hands –
That almost make you feel those talons.
Oh I know.
We don’t need poetry to make us feel those talons anymore.
We have talon videos on the web and the National Geographic channel
Not to mention owls.
Though for pea-green boats you may still need to turn an ear
To Edward Lear.
An edited version of this piece can be found here. Copyright ©2015 The Hindu. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
brangan
April 18, 2015
Just did this as a lark. Was a typical prose piece first, then I tried breaking it up and had some fun with it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ravi varanasi
April 18, 2015
That’s a beaut ….”poe….try”…. In colloquial tamil….go n try 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
uniquebluerose
April 18, 2015
Superb…this is COOL….now let’s see how many of line have Iambic pentameter…
LikeLike
Gargi Mehra
April 18, 2015
Very nice! The Owl and the Pussycat is one of my favourite poems from childhood.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Bayta
April 19, 2015
Loved this:
“I remember how I used to love the name Christina Georgina Rossetti.
Such a balanced name, three syllables in each part, bobbing like a boat.”
Perfect imagery.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Priya
April 19, 2015
Aww..this is so lovely! I knew it, I knew you must try your hand at poetry, for best or for verse! I felt this recently when I read your article about the music of OKK, where you used the refrain without any refrain!
The Christina Georgina Rossetti imagery, absolutely charming!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Vikram Sonni
April 19, 2015
Hi BR, 🙂 is what I can think of….
LikeLike
the(-poet-in-)BRangan fan
April 19, 2015
i wouldn’t say you are the next shakespeare
i would rather say shakespeare was the previous brangan
LikeLike
Ravi
April 19, 2015
Yea…amazing imagery that ….about syllables and boats.!!!!
How do such thoughts occur to you, BR? What do you eat?
LikeLike
sanjana
April 19, 2015
Delightful reading for a change. Inverse or In Verse.
How about writing a review in verse?
I always thought verse is a lazy form of poetry.
But verse like this sounds better than geometry.
I am thinking of pea-green boats
While making a meal of oats
Green reminds me of my green tea
Now it is time to go for the partea.
Forgive me for my mistake
This is only my small take.
LikeLike
Iswarya
April 19, 2015
i wouldn’t say you are the next shakespeare
i would rather say shakespeare was the previous brangan
Eye roll
Wow! 😀
LikeLike
brangan
April 19, 2015
sanjana: Delightful reading for a change.
As opposed to all the un-delightful reading I usually keep subjecting you guys to? Okaay then! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Iswarya
April 19, 2015
And I just realised that all my comments in the last two days have disappeared somewhere! Maybe it’s something to do with the new template.. I distinctly remember writing about the timestamps that have made a comeback, and what a nice thing that was!
LikeLike
Priya
April 20, 2015
“un-delightful reading”?
humblebragging
LikeLiked by 1 person
thotsvandi
April 20, 2015
the(-poet-in-)BRangan fan – 🙂
LikeLike
chronophlogiston
April 21, 2015
How appropriate given our exchanges earlier in the day 🙂
LikeLike
K.
April 23, 2015
Hi BR, way off-topic and probably against the spirit of this blog, but please perhaps consider updaing the “Star Ratings” page on your blog?
I must explain why I support the rating system: as a rule, I never read reviews of any film before watching it no matter how “spoiler-free” they claim to be. At the same time, since I’m not a professional critic, it just isn’t feasible to watch every single film out there, even though in theory I subscribe to the “reviews should be read after watching the film” dictum. This is where ratings come in handy. Of course, ratings are elusive and extremely subjective and in no way can replace the prose format, but still I find myself depending on ratings to decide what to watch and what to skip.
Oh, and why am I asking you specifically? I’m relatively new to Indian films and I’m growing more and more interested by the day – and I’ve to count on ratings to decide what to watch and what to skip.
LikeLike