In the mood for chai-samosa and poetry
Poetry recommendations... and thoughts
In my previous newsletter, I shared some insights on the craft of writing that can be learnt just by reading good literature, so this time I decided to share some something for you to read, you know, just some casual, fun light reading that is also good literature? And I thought, what’s better than a couple of solid poems?
The poems I’ve shared are great just by themselves, but have you ever tried poetry with samosa and chai? Delicious!!
These days though, I know you want to read the ‘poems of our times’ with a certain idea in mind. These aren’t that. And yet to me, these too are the poems of our times, in one way or the other. In their own way, they confront people and ideas, but do so with such sweet gentleness, it stands out. So, I’ve handpicked for you some of my favorite poems, the ones I find myself returning to for various reasons at different points in my life. And look, now they’ve also made their way here - into my newsletter, a space you and I share. As I share them with you, I also document them here for keepsake for us all, so you and I can revisit them whenever we want and be part of this large community of lovers of poetry and the poets.
To start off, here’s one in the spirit of peace and humanity - something especially relevant for the times we live in. May we remember love and mercy every single day, and may we never forget to step out of our shoes, into someone else’s from time to time. Life will make more sense then, I promise.
Mercy by Rudy Fransisco
after Nikki Giovanni
She asks me to kill the spider.
Instead, I get the most
peaceful weapons I can find.
I take a cup and a napkin.
I catch the spider, put it outside
and allow it to walk away.
If I am ever caught in the wrong place
at the wrong time, just being alive
and not bothering anyone,
I hope I am greeted
with the same kind
of mercy.
If you’d like to read more of Rudy Fransico, you can check out his website here. I obviously do have another favorite poem/performance that you can watch on YouTube here. It’s called, ‘Complainers.’
The second one is the writer’s cry in the world of artificial intelligence.
For Someone Who Used AI to Write a Poem by Joseph Fasano
Now I let it pass back
into darkness.
I hear you. I know
this life is hard now.
I know your days are precious
on this earth.
But what are you trying
to be free of?
The living? The miraculous
task of it?
Love is for the ones who love the work.
All of his work is so meaningful - he’s definitely one of the important writers of our times. You can know more about him and his work here.
And let me end this letter with the poem that has been a big cozy comfortable blanket for me for a long time now. I’ve highlighted my favorite lines.
Under one small sky by Wislawa Szymborska
My apologies to chance for calling it necessity.
My apologies to necessity if I am mistaken, after all.Please, don’t be angry, happiness, that I take you as my due.
May my dead be patient with the way my memories fade.My apologies to time for all the world I overlook each second.
My apologies to past loves for thinking that the latest is the first.
Forgive me, distant wars, for bringing flowers home.
Forgive me, open wounds, for pricking my finger.
I apologize for my record of minuets to those who cry from the depths.
I apologize to those who wait in the railway stations for being asleep today at five a.m.
Pardon me, hounded hope, for laughing from time to time.
Pardon me, deserts, that I don’t rush to you bearing a spoonful of water.
And you, falcon, unchanging year after year,
always in the same cage,
your gaze always fixed on the same point in space,
forgive me, even if it turns out you were stuffed.
My apologies to the felled tree for the table’s four legs.
My apologies to great questions for small answers.
Truth, please don’t pay me much attention.
Dignity, please be magnanimous.
Bear with me, O mystery of existence,
as I pluck the occasional thread from your train.
Soul, don’t take offense that I’ve only got you now and then.
My apologies to everything that i can’t be everywhere at once.
My apologies to everyone that I can’t be each woman and each man.
I know I won’t be justified as long as I live,
since I myself stand in my own way.
don’t bear me ill will, speech, that I borrow weighty words,
then labor heavily so that they may seem light.
Wislawa Szymborska’s work is <3 You can read more about her here.
I’ll keep it to 3 solid poems for now, so you can amply bask in the presence of each one, but believe me, I want to share soo many more! You’ll stick here long enough for those, won’t you? Yes, they deserve to be read.
As you read these poems, and let them refresh and invigorate you, I’m sure at some point, you’ll feel the urge to share them with a friend. Please do them the favor! Poetry makes life so much better!
If you would like to discuss these poems with me, feel free to drop a comment on this letter or simply reply to this email. I’m also on Instagram @samiksha_ransom