Poetry is perhaps the most delicate form of art amongst the genres of creative writing, as it directly deals with emotions,and it directly deals with the feelings roused in hearts, a poem expresses certain thoughts, a certain mood or emotions and it can have a therapeutic influence on a mind burdened with vulnerability, engrossed in sorrow and grievances. Simultaneously, Poetry can be a powerful tool to bring changes in norms of society and thoughtfully deployed, it can tremendously hone the moral values. A true poem can touch the emotions of many, touch the heart of a greater group hardened with rigidness and practical maturity of this material world, and a true poem can initiate the dawning of the heart, involving the conscience. A poet needs to allow these feelings exposed in the poem , it can be a mending of a complicated mindset dealing with hundreds and thousands of emotional hypes, a poem can be cerebral and directly target the prevailing comfort zone defined by the social privilege and social realities of identity which sometimes determine the personal boundaries. A poet can give a unique voice to a poem, craft through the medium to create an immortal piece of art , yet a poet can be the one suffering tremendous pain and proper lack of agency to follow through the depth of the message. My personal feelings were quite perplexing. These tremendous thought provoking, life changing poems are not the identifying traits of a poet, neither can it be a significant empirical method involving the probability of a thinking poetic mind. Life can touch deeply a poem, touching only the life of the poet tangentially, somewhere , at a floating point.
Poetry as a soulmate
I am still learning different forms of poetry,I am still learning the concepts of cli·chés in poetry and the only truth I can find in me that poetry can be an effective clinical method to build a healthy proximity while living in a toxic real world. It is not a habitual truth, None can teach one to be creative. But true poetry can instill love and interest in the mind of a reader, which can open the door for a sincere mood changing technique. At that specific point, poetry can open a door of limitless promising attributes, shifting the mind toward a healthy and richer thinking abilities. Poetry cannot be a ritual, but it can be almost as effective as meditation once these inner worlds start to make sense, once these dimensions of truth of emotions written in poetic beauty are explorable and meaningfully understood. Then and only then poetry can turn into a soulmate, it can stay there for an unconditional pursuit of life’s bigger meaning. I often feel a strong sense of dilemma in me. What is my greater identity as a poet? Am I a woman? Am I a practicing muslim? I wish I could be a perfect mother living a happy life for 24 hours a day but that is also not true. I will quote a nurse here. I forgot her name. I had to call the healthline as I was having agitation and panic attacks. With a tremendous skillful attitude, she calmed me down within a few minutes. “People seek support in their internal support system. Although that is the general tendency, it might not be the case always. There is no shame in seeking support outside.” It was a tremendous personal moment of beauty for me. Only much later I realized that I found a similar quote of Margaret Atwood on changes in creative writing . She said : “There’s no shame in backtracking. There’s no shame in revision. There’s no shame in realizing that you got it wrong, or that there’s a better thing you can do that’s better than what you have done.” Yes, that was indeed a moment of reflection for me. Unknowingly a person can make the same mistakes over and over again. But knowingly? I do not think so. And for the exact reason awareness comes with a sense of responsibility . Responsibility to stand up for what I believe, what beholds the truth in my life. I felt that I was questioning my faith, vulnerably and unknowingly. But at the same time, the degree of pain was leading a sense of truth in me, and that is also the greater understanding of my faith. In the religious scripture it is mentioned that we are like a body, when one part is wounded, the other part can sense the pain, the emotional ties are so strong. Unfortunately the real sense of this perception is often neglected , it goes into oblivion with our mind getting more drawn to material gain and physical worldly dimension gained from an absolute abstract experience such as poetry. A nonfiction tells about a life event , a continuity in timeline and a series of events but poetry touches it more inwardly, more spiritually. Poetry can be a genuine soulmate.