The work of poetry

Poetry is looking about with a torch backstage.

Poetry doesn't enter by the front door declaring itself. It uses the back door, climbs in through windows, or drops down the chimney.

Poetry unbridles words from their hackneyed uses. It lets them out to find fresh fields. 

 

A poem is a poem

Having an idea to write a poem about something produces a dull work that is not truly poetry, but rather prosaic - even if it has used within it poetic devices.

Real poetry comes from something that wakes up inside us. 

being a poet

is to learn an undesignated language

is to travel aridity in search of abandoned truths

is to walk the wrong way in the lane posted failure

is to release the idea of perfection 

is to understand the situation and live with it

is to become inscrutable 

is to honour the poem in everything

and let go
 

Solon, the poet statesman

Born in 630 BCE to an aristocratic family possessing modest wealth, it was through his poetry that Solon first rose to prominence in Athens.

Because he lived before records of written history and biography had been established, there are many versions regarding a poem that he composed and publicly read that roused the population to eventually triumph over Megara in a dispute over the island of Salamis.

Poetry occupied an important role in his life. He used it to order and shape his thoughts and express his understanding of what matters most in life.

Solon had become a merchant trader during his early life. His father had given away much of the family's wealth. These early experiences probably helped to ground him and educate him about the dangers of excess wealth and power.  Solon valued moderation and sought to enact just reforms rather than revolutionise political power.

"To the people I have given such honor as is sufficient,
neither taking away nor granting them more.
For those who had power and were great in riches,
I greatly cared that they should suffer nothing wrong.
Thus I stood, holding my strong shield over both,
and I did not allow either side to prevail against justice." 

   

Sitting and Waiting

https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bigideas/the-consequence-of-trauma/10970864

Radio National, Big Ideas, The Consequences of Trauma, 21 May 2019

Healing and Human Rights: From Philosophy to Practice recorded at the 2nd Australia and New Zealand Refugee Trauma Recovery in Resettlement Conference. 29 March 2019

Poem 'Sitting and Waiting' recited by Dr Vikki Reynolds, Canadian activist/therapist. The poem was written by an Iranian refugee who was tortured in a prison in Iran for seven years. He escaped and got to Canada. His first attempt to be recognised as a refugee failed. The poem is not about his time in prison in Iran but his experience in Canada.


Sitting and Waiting 

Sitting and waiting
in the line of a slap
when your hands are tied.
Standing in front of waves of accusation
while your mouth is shut.
And the eyes which are blindfolded
with black cloth
and I am watching the future.
The future is unknown.
Where is the safest place in the world?
Where is the end of being a refugee?

The Poetry and Prayers of Kevin Hart

https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/encounter/the-poetry-and-prayers-of-kevin-hart/2953494
Encounter, Radio National, 5 June 2011

The Summer Day: Poem By Mary Oliver; Animated by Anita Rundles