Soumya Bharathi
Guest Blogger
I must have been eight years old when it first came calling. This urge to pen down the lines and words forming in my head. I was too young to even know the definition of poetry when it came knocking at the doors of my mind. Nevertheless, I gave in to my instincts, grabbed the pencil and paper, and let the words flow out.
Looking back, I do not remember anything about my first poem except the fact that it was about nature – about trees, mountains and rivers…an enchanting world I had visited only through books. As I grew up, my love for the written word grew by leaps and bounds. I was not writing poetry, but reading it, rather devouring it hungrily. In high school, this love affair intensified thanks to my wonderful English teacher.
As she read out the lines, “Slowly silently now the moon, walks the night in her silver shoon,” in her subtly emotive voice, the silver from Walter de la Mare’s poem seemed to have covered my imagination like magical pixie dust. She was a skilled teleporter, transporting me effortlessly from the classroom to the poet’s world through sing voice and her wonderful interpretations. Unfortunately, due to some personal reasons, she had to resign from our school and move out of the city in the middle of the academic year, leaving those of us who adored her, heartbroken. Now how would I navigate the mysterious and vast landscape of a poet’s mind without her guidance? I felt a sense of personal loss, an emotion new to me which again prompted me after years, to take a pen and paper and pour my heart out. It was a sweet co-incidence that my parting gift to a person who made me fall in love with poetry, had been a poem. A poem that she read out in class, my first brush with putting my poem out there in the world.
As a teenager though, I continued to write privately for years. Whenever I felt overwhelmed with emotions, I wrote. The process of putting on paper, a hundred different emotions that were hitting the shores of my mind, was not only relaxing but also therapeutic.
But poetry continued to be a great influence in my life, as much to my surprise, I discovered that the man whom I was destined marry also wrote poetry!! The written verses were now playing cupid in our arranged marriage setup , sealing our love story with verses we wrote in each other’s company.
As another wonderful journey called motherhood began, my urge to write was so overwhelming, for the first time in my life, I wanted to write about this beautiful phase and share it with the rest of the world. So that women who were going through the same journey could find resonance in my words and in theirs. What better way to start my blogging journey, than with a poem about this little bundle of joy I was blessed with in my life?
What I never knew was that it also started my journey as a writer. One poem lead to another, then to articles, stories and before I knew it, I was writing all the time.
In between all the writing, poetry still has a very special place in my heart. Why? Because writing poetry is like running carefree in the wild, when nobody is watching. The structure and the method of prose can become tiring after a while but free verse poetry is still my flight of fancy, the one that I want to take, very frequently. For the view of the world is breath-taking once you clip on the wings of a poet.
In your words, I seek The depth of this world That oceans cannot fathom Through your lines, I see The beauty that lies beyond The perception of my eyes... Hidden in your stanzas, Are those gems of wisdom, That go beyond the boundaries of knowledge...
In the confines of your rhyme, Lie those subtle emotions, which don't show easily otherwise... Oh poem, my beloved friend, You are the refuge I seek, Whenever my heart wants to speak...
Photo credit: Laura Chouette on Unsplash
Soumya Bharathi is an author, blogger and poet based in Bangalore. An Oral Surgeon by training, she is currently pursuing her passion of writing, full-time. Her writings have appeared in various web platforms like Women’s web, Momspresso, Film companion. Her short stories have been selected for in various anthologies. She is also a self published author. Her first book is a collection of short stories titled “Life blooms in Myriad ways” and her second book is a poetry collection titled “From the heart of a homemaker”.
