Monday, December 27, 2004

mera blog

After blogging daily for a week, I posted nothing yesterday. It’s back to one of those existential moments:

What is the purpose of this blog? What do I want to make of it? A record of my “poems”? Or also “ramblings” and “musings”? When does a piece of writing become one or the other – especially when most of my poetry is confessional? But poetry wants to veil and hint, not bare. If this blog, then, is to contain my poems, how can it be a notebook/journal at the same time?

What prevents, you ask, from it being everything? Nothing but an inclination for stubborn puristry.

9 comments:

Anand said...

ramblings/musings/poems... the difference in form doesn't take away from the basic similarity,

the art of the writer/poet refracting rainbows out of the everyday, often grungy light of their experience...

words, all words, hide more than they reveal.

your blog, with its pre-existing photos, peoms, and occasional musings is quite ecletic as is, despite your pretensions to (or aspirations of!) stubborn puristry...

cheers

Monica said...

A., is it true that all words hide more than they reveal? I don't know. I know that as a poet - when writing good, that is - I fence more often than when I write "mere" prose. There is a deviousness I associate with this craft that often allows me a voice I don't take in "real life".

In a perfect world I'd be able to post a perfect poem (and only poems - in whichever form!) on the blog, everyday. Unfortunately, what daily fare I produce doesn't often get as polished as I think poetry ought to be - what with the relentless diurnality of a weblog. This is what I'm struggling with. Not a new poem everyday, so "musings"? (Yes, I have once in a while given in to the temptation to ramble, but ) What a horror! How can my "everyday" life be allowed to encroach upon my "art"?! ;-)

Anonymous said...

Dear M.. Art remains largely in the realm of perspective and experience. Otherwise A could have painted Guernica with as much ease and pathos. We are impacted, and some of us express differently. Our expressions reach others in certain forms. We call one of those forms poetry.

Poetry is not designed to hide, veil or even tease. Think about ee cummings for instance. Or almost violent beat poetry. Poetry is an expression of the self. Poetry is constantly reinvented. On reading your blog today morning, self ended up writing something. http://nehasri.blogspot.com/2004/12/to-despair-of-bloggeria.html

Do not judge your state of mind. Do not evaluate it. Understand it... maybe. But most of all, live it. Because in living, poetry flows. I know the periphery of what you feel. I cannot claim to feel the same way, or to even know entirely what you feel. But the birth of musings does not imply the death of poetry. Do not judge your words emotionally. Judge them if you will with objectivity. And since that is a foolhardly option, just stop judging okay.

Sorry for the Gyaan tone. Not meant to be like that. Just concern...
And a little plump ego.. You know what I mean?
:)

neha vish said...

Dear M.. Art remains largely in the realm of perspective and experience. Otherwise A could have painted Guernica with as much ease and pathos. We are impacted, and some of us express differently. Our expressions reach others in certain forms. We call one of those forms poetry.

Poetry is not designed to hide, veil or even tease. Think about ee cummings for instance. Or almost violent beat poetry. Poetry is an expression of the self. Poetry is constantly reinvented. On reading your blog today morning, self ended up writing something. http://nehasri.blogspot.com/2004/12/to-despair-of-bloggeria.html

Do not judge your state of mind. Do not evaluate it. Understand it... maybe. But most of all, live it. Because in living, poetry flows. I know the periphery of what you feel. I cannot claim to feel the same way, or to even know entirely what you feel. But the birth of musings does not imply the death of poetry. Do not judge your words emotionally. Judge them if you will with objectivity. And since that is a foolhardly option, just stop judging okay.

Sorry for the Gyaan tone. Not meant to be like that. Just concern...
And a little plump ego.. You know what I mean?
:)

Monica said...

Yup, saw this post on your blog y'day. A slight jolt - parallel thoughtwaves farming out and flowing unconsciously - patterns?

Monica said...

btw, thx for the gyaan :-)

neha vish said...

Interestingly.. it was a parallel process. And yet, needed something to jolt it out of me. Thankings for your wordings dear! Or I would have mulled in my my own muck. But you know how the mind is.. it'll generate its own stories.
Hope the 9 to 5.. routine, keeps the spirit alive in you. Sigh. Now I really know why I left my job!

Monica said...

More synchronicities - Sashi posts a Guardian story on the art of poetry on his blog. See http://buoy.antville.org/stories/1010960/#1011207

Anonymous said...

Since it is easier to replicate in cyberia than type it again, here are a few further thoughts, from other minds:

http://www.haloscan.com/comments/nehavish/110415814794473363/

Cheers!
Sashi