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Portrait of Rabindranath Tagore by Xu
Beihong |
Some people are drawn into the poetry world primarily by the work of one particular poet, or a handful of poets. Bakul Banerjee writes about the influence of Rabidranath Tagore, whose poems her mother sang to her. Christian Ward was enchanted by the poems of Elizabeth Bishop, while MW Flannery found the work of Billy Collins irresistible. A couple of poets have given special inspiration to Angela Hoffman. Alex Andy Phuong was encouraged to submit poetry after hearing Emma Stone sing “Audition” in the movie, La La Land. Enjoy their stories.
Mother’s Favorite Poems
Should I be proud that I was born in free India, a year after India’s Independence Day? Probably not but I am proud of the sacrifices made by countless freedom fighters as they were put to death or in jail. My parents were young and proud too. Indian freedom was the culmination of a long struggle against the British Raj. Although the final push was guided by the non-cooperation movement led by Mahatma Gandhi, much blood was also spilled. Yet, the ideologies of my parents were aligned with the non-violence principles of Gandhi.
Like many successful movements in the world, the Nobel Prize-winning poet and songwriter Rabindranath Tagore wrote many poems, often set them to songs in the Bengali language during the first half of the twentieth century. These songs became rallying cries for the protest marches of the freedom movement. They were on the lips of the masses. Even after seventy-five years of freedom, they are still recited or sung throughout the Bengali diaspora.
Instead of lullabies, my mother sang or hummed hundreds of Tagore’s inspirational songs. Like my father, I couldn’t carry a tune but learned the poems from my mother as if by osmosis. I still sing them in private during difficult times.
Two of Ma’s favorite songs were, “Jodi Tor Dak Sune Keu Na Ashe,” and “Bipade More Rakkha Karo E Naho Mor Prarthana.” The translation of the first paragraph of the first poem about individual determination goes as follows:
If
they don’t answer thy call, just walk alone,
If they are afraid and cower mutely facing the wall,
O thou unlucky one,
Open thy mind and speak out alone.
The
translation of the first paragraph of the second poem about courage in the face
of danger goes as follows:
Save me from danger
That is not my prayer
Let me have the courage to face it
You need not soothe my sad heart
Bless me so that I win over sadness
Both songs were adopted by Mahatma Gandhi as unofficial hymns to freedom. Like my mother, singing these two songs gave me much-needed solace during difficult times. Whenever I hear the song, “We shall overcome,” I think of these poems and remember my mother.
~ Bakul Banerjee
Christian Ward addressed his poem to the poet he wanted to honor.
To Elizabeth Bishop
Dear Elizabeth,
I wanted to tell you how much
I loved your Complete Poems.
Your poems are intimate dioramas
with the power to transform the reader
into animals and landscapes. Seriously.
One minute I'm reading "The Fish"
and the next I'm feeling the entire Pacific
rushing through me with more power
than a shoal of sardines. Fanboy
if I must, but your Brazil poems made
me
a fly exploring every port, town
and rainforest. The isolated body
of Newfoundland, like a sole polar bear
on an ice floe, almost made me weep.
Tuned into your world, I understood
the frequency of loneliness - how you
were like the moose disappearing
into the background like a magician's
trick.
More than that, I felt a sense of
mutual understanding
with you, how hard it is
to love and be loved. What seems so
easy,
is, at times, like writing a poem:
frustrating
yet immensely rewarding.
Thank you for showing me how to be human.
Love,
Christian
Christian Ward
(A version of this was previously published in the anthology A Love Letter (Or Poem) To... by Sweetycat Press, 2021).
Like MW Flannery, I’m an admirer of Billy Collins and the way he turns the mundane into something poetic and meaninfu.
While Reading Billy Collins Poems
I stop to take a deep breathand wonder.
Can I ever do
that?
Make the most
mundane moment
sing with
resonance.
Take the
moment deeper
than its own
shallow awareness.
Listening to a
dog bark.
Contemplating a nursery rhyme.
Notes in a
margin.
I fall backwards in slow motion
into a soft
memory.
Meter and
rhyme
when I was
nine and subject
to a class
assignment
that
challenged my imagination.
Honestly, I
don’t remember
what I wrote,
only
that I never
stopped.
Fifty years
later, I am still writing.
Still
searching for that resonance
in my own
words.
That moment
that will give a reader
a feeling like
I’m feeling now.
~ MW Flannery
It is stretching the category for this post a bit to include Angela Hoffman’s poem: it wasn’t just the poets Rumi and Mary Oliver who inspired her writing. It was the pandemic and something some would consider mundane because they are so plentiful and recognizable: a robin. A robin and a silver globe. I think you will enjoy what she wrote:
Gazing Globe
That
first spring that the pandemic was in full swing,
I spent mornings reflecting in my room with a view
of my front yard where a robin showed up and never left.
She
would spend hours pecking at her image
in the silver gazing globe,
or perhaps she was thinking it was a mate
who would respond, make her happy.
She would take a break, dig among the mulch for worms.
It become disturbing; the globe covered in droppings,
reflecting the surrounding muck.
All the while I sipped solitude, read Rumi, Oliver,
placing their words on my tongue, swallowing the verse,
giving them time to digest, resonate, make sense.
It was that April that I wrote about this; my first
poem,
while
at the same time, I was picking on what I saw
in myself and obsessing about if
onlys
and thinking someone else could make me
happy.
The
following year that robin returned,
took part in the very same ritual but departed sooner.
This third spring she remained for just a few days, leaving
her impressions behind in the mud.
As
the years rolled into two, then three,
I followed her lead.
I
continued showing up each morning,
leaving my own markings of
verse in my journal,
spending less time picking, more
time flying.
~ Angela Hoffman
Although Alex Andy Phuong credits his willingness to submit poets for publication—which always includes the risk of rejection—to the actress and singer Emma Stone’s rendition of “Audition,” credit needs to be given also to the poets who provided the words, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and to the composer, Justin Hurwitz.
Beyond Receiving an Easy A in English 101
From Phoenix, Arizona,
to becoming a modern Hollywood starlet,
While also being much more modern
than an O’Hara named Scarlett,
And as Emma Stone metaphorically threw a stone
Into the waters of cinema
To create a ripple effect
Unlike any other,
An Oscar-winning performance left a lasting impression
Upon an English Major who did much more than read
First Impressions,
And by falling under the spell
Of the ethereal La La Land,
Emma Stone’s performance full of elegance
Actually does inspire artists to dream
With hope and creativity
No matter how hard life might seem,
So dream the dream
That has never gone by
While doing much more
Than wonder why
How years flew by
Ever since acing English 101
While knowing that writing creatively
Really is a lot of fun!
~ Alex Andy Phuong
Poets retain copyright on their own work.
Bios:
An award-winning poet and Pushcart Prize-nominated author and poet Bakul Banerjee, enjoys telling her experiential stories through poetry, essays, and short stories. She has two collections of previously published poems, titled Bathymetry: Poems (2017) and Synchronicity: Poems (2010). For the past twenty years, her poems, essays, and short stories appeared in literary magazines and anthologies throughout the U.S. and India. She also co-authored a medical novel. She has been featured at multiple readings and workshops.
MW Flannery lives a simple life with her husband and dogs on a small homestead in the Georgia foothills. She has been writing poetry for more than 50 years, honing her craft in relative isolation. Her work speaks from a lifelong observation of inner motivation and the emotional self, taking snapshot moments and expounding on their meaning and effect. She was recently selected for publication in October Hill Magazine.
Angela Hoffman’s poetry collections include Resurrection Lily (Kelsay Books, 2022) and Olly Olly Oxen Free (forthcoming, Kelsay Books, 2023). She placed third in the WFOP Kay Saunders Memorial Emerging Poet in 2022. Her poems have been published internationally. She has written a poem a day since the start of the pandemic. Angela lives in rural Wisconsin.
Alex Andy Phuong earned his Bachelor of Arts in English from California State University—Los Angeles in 2015. He was a former Statement Magazine editor who writes passionately and daily. Emma Stone inspired Alex to submit writing actively to publications after hearing the Oscar-nominated song, “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” from the “Best Picture” nominee La La Land (2016). He now writes hoping to inspire the ones who dare to pursue their dreams.
Christian Ward is a UK-based writer who has recently appeared in The Dewdrop, Dodging the Rain, Blue Unicorn, The Seventh Quarry, Bluepepper, Tipton Poetry Journal, The Amazine and Rye Whiskey Review.
