My first poetry reading session.
The ambience - 10 pm under a tree, a bonfire, the only artificial light being the streetlight some 10 metres away and of course the phones' flashlights, and the real light - an audience of 25 evolved learners of the English language at EFLU (eng n foreign languages university).
The reading - Wind and the Leaf was my most plausible choice for being the first read as it had a story, a dialogue between two elements of nature and could well be a situation between two people. Interestingly there was no applause, just a quiet pause as the poem ended. So I engaged with the audience and the answers were ambiguous. Some said that the theme of wanting to break away surfaced. No one really spoke of the intensity of the wind and leaf engagement.
Sea and the Sand, a favorite among many of my friends was next. It did not evince the same quality of 'Wow.... what romance' as it had done earlier with a non-lierature audience. In fact this literature students audience dissected it with the poetic techniques that they learn in the class. While one felt that the rhyming pattern took away from the real flow of the poem, one said that it was the 'metric' rhyming technique that appealed to him.
One was candid enough to say that some of the verses were too good and others, stark ordinary. And another said that the line 'they have never ventured beyond certain doors' made him think of the Tsunami and that the sea actually raped the earth.
If was the third poem, and I guess it hit bull's eye with its typical question flow. Most of this 20 something crowd could identify with the strain of self-conflict that runs through the entire poem and at the end of this, a lot of them said that they felt it could be the narrative of their own lives. I questioned a person who looked to be a little away from her surroundings, and she said she was herself going through a low point and this poem was a sort of extension and she spoke of her transition from a reticent small towner to a typical university resident.
The next 2 poems were smaller in length - Melancholy and Them vs I. My young judges felt that both passed muster and one said that she was particularly moved by the lines 'Could be love/could be a wound of the heart/ lavished and inflicted on the same spot.
I asked them if they wanted me to end or else I could read one last one. In a big boost to my poetic ego, this rather laconic audience urged me to continue. Satiation beyond sensation seemed a good bet. Non rhyming, high on the imagery and euphemism quotient and something of a higher order for this really high on literature listeners. A set of mix reviews, some said it flowed easily, some asked the reason for the title Satiation beyond Sensation, one said that one line 'I am breathing on the oxygen of imagination' was what stayed with her, another said 'I am weaving a shut eye tale of distant fantasy' made him think of the fact that I was actually talking about the process of my writing a poem. One said that she found the poem to be profound and asked if the 'I am listening to the music of the sound of stillness' was something that came with natural quickness or something that I had labored over to conjure.
At some point of time someone asked me where I was when I wrote the poem 'If' in terms of my situation and mental state. This led to a few personal stories flowing out which were met with understanding nods. And some real life anecdotes provided more energy to the session as the reality behind the poetic version made the words more lucid.
My take - Most poetry readings are about publicity and enhancing sales. This particular reading session had nothing to do with that. For me it was more about moving souls with my poetry which is so much a part of my soul. The advantage that I had was that this was a crowd which relishes poetic expression. The disadvantage was that they had already had so much experience being exposed to different writing styles and genres and techniques that they were absorbing my poetry from very seasoned perspectives.
They were critical without being brutal, at times they used words to describe my poetry which is the exact essence of the writing therein, which made me feel successful in terms of having made a reader arrive at that feeling, and lastly both sides - the poet and the audience - connected on a certain level of love for words and their representation that added so much beauty and wonder to our 1hr 30mins of engagement.
Like the girl who wound up the program with the quote said - Writing is a tool that you can use your whole life, to help people, elevate them, to make them laugh, to change their minds. You can do it for those in faraway lands, For those who haven't been born yet. Writing is a way to live forever.
For me it has been a moment of truth, a moment of judgement, a moment of a longing coming to fruition.
The ambience - 10 pm under a tree, a bonfire, the only artificial light being the streetlight some 10 metres away and of course the phones' flashlights, and the real light - an audience of 25 evolved learners of the English language at EFLU (eng n foreign languages university).
Sea and the Sand, a favorite among many of my friends was next. It did not evince the same quality of 'Wow.... what romance' as it had done earlier with a non-lierature audience. In fact this literature students audience dissected it with the poetic techniques that they learn in the class. While one felt that the rhyming pattern took away from the real flow of the poem, one said that it was the 'metric' rhyming technique that appealed to him.
One was candid enough to say that some of the verses were too good and others, stark ordinary. And another said that the line 'they have never ventured beyond certain doors' made him think of the Tsunami and that the sea actually raped the earth.
If was the third poem, and I guess it hit bull's eye with its typical question flow. Most of this 20 something crowd could identify with the strain of self-conflict that runs through the entire poem and at the end of this, a lot of them said that they felt it could be the narrative of their own lives. I questioned a person who looked to be a little away from her surroundings, and she said she was herself going through a low point and this poem was a sort of extension and she spoke of her transition from a reticent small towner to a typical university resident.
The next 2 poems were smaller in length - Melancholy and Them vs I. My young judges felt that both passed muster and one said that she was particularly moved by the lines 'Could be love/could be a wound of the heart/ lavished and inflicted on the same spot.
I asked them if they wanted me to end or else I could read one last one. In a big boost to my poetic ego, this rather laconic audience urged me to continue. Satiation beyond sensation seemed a good bet. Non rhyming, high on the imagery and euphemism quotient and something of a higher order for this really high on literature listeners. A set of mix reviews, some said it flowed easily, some asked the reason for the title Satiation beyond Sensation, one said that one line 'I am breathing on the oxygen of imagination' was what stayed with her, another said 'I am weaving a shut eye tale of distant fantasy' made him think of the fact that I was actually talking about the process of my writing a poem. One said that she found the poem to be profound and asked if the 'I am listening to the music of the sound of stillness' was something that came with natural quickness or something that I had labored over to conjure.
At some point of time someone asked me where I was when I wrote the poem 'If' in terms of my situation and mental state. This led to a few personal stories flowing out which were met with understanding nods. And some real life anecdotes provided more energy to the session as the reality behind the poetic version made the words more lucid.
My take - Most poetry readings are about publicity and enhancing sales. This particular reading session had nothing to do with that. For me it was more about moving souls with my poetry which is so much a part of my soul. The advantage that I had was that this was a crowd which relishes poetic expression. The disadvantage was that they had already had so much experience being exposed to different writing styles and genres and techniques that they were absorbing my poetry from very seasoned perspectives.
They were critical without being brutal, at times they used words to describe my poetry which is the exact essence of the writing therein, which made me feel successful in terms of having made a reader arrive at that feeling, and lastly both sides - the poet and the audience - connected on a certain level of love for words and their representation that added so much beauty and wonder to our 1hr 30mins of engagement.
Like the girl who wound up the program with the quote said - Writing is a tool that you can use your whole life, to help people, elevate them, to make them laugh, to change their minds. You can do it for those in faraway lands, For those who haven't been born yet. Writing is a way to live forever.
For me it has been a moment of truth, a moment of judgement, a moment of a longing coming to fruition.
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