(For the prompt: If I could change one thing)
***
Immersion.
in the vastness
of a single moment
to feel the world with more than five senses.
only to know why
only to experience being like light
(in it / through it / because of it): presence.
only to know not-being like water
(flow / reflect / withdraw / dry): absence.
then let me drown
then bring me up to the surface
learning to breathe anew
learning to feel anew
seeing for the first time
(moon / eyes / wet skin): quintessence
now everything matters
now nothing matters
and it is still that moment
and that moment is still: silence
now I question
now I cannot answer
(who / because / for what): evanescence
what can I change
when language has no words, no sound:
when wind has no movement
trees lose verbs
when the stars stop signing
the sky loses nouns
in this moment
I will lose myself
when the moment passes – unchanged –
one line at a time
I will lose poetry.
***
#Napowrimo #Glopowrimo
#WriteRight
#April2024 30/30 DONE. COMPLETE. NO MORE. FINI.
Also linked to Mary’s prompt at What’s going on: Silence
THOUGHT PURGE 
How you paint silence with your words, Rajani, making silence its own poetry! Beautifully done!
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Thanks so much… how do our words and our poetry fit into a horror-filled world…what should we write about… I think it was an exploration of a hopeless silence…
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Beautiful, Rajani. I especially love the feeling in these lines:
“only to know why
only to experience being like light
(in it / through it / because of it): presence.”
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Thanks so much!
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Amen to the moment, silence… Amen to ” what can I change / when language has no words, no sound:” Amen to this poem. What a beautiful way to finish this writing exercise! Outstanding.
Thank you for these prompts and writing alongside. Now onwards with NOT losing poetry. 🙂
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Thank you, Khaya… I will resurface with poetry after May… it’s been a long intense period with the memoir and the climate series and then April. Time to recharge! Will keep talking about the climate though meanwhile!
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this is very beautiful and good, a great spectrum of emotions. This poem where’s its heart on its sleeve. Great work.
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Thank you, Alan.
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I do hope you don’t lose poetry, Rajani, as your words mean a lot to us. I like the idea of feeing the world with more than five sense and experience being like light. The repetition in this poem is very effective, as are the words in parentheses, and the layout. These lines stood out for me:
‘what can I change
when language has no words, no sound:
when wind has no movement
trees lose verbs
when the stars stop signing
the sky loses nouns’.
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Thank you, Kim… more than self-expression, I think I am exploring how poetry fits into the larger ecosystem, becomes more meaningful… a path should open up!
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Love how you build up Silence; word by word, brick by brick as it were. Just as Sherry says, you are so gifted with words. This ‘silence’ is felt and experienced by simply reading your words. Fantastic, Rajani!
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Thanks so much, Sumana… finally it is poetry itself that will show a mirror and silence the poet..
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I hope you never lose poetry, you are so gifted with words. A pretty wonderful poem to wrap up the 30 days. Way to go. I didn’t have the energy this year.
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Thank you, Sherry. All these poems we are writing, railing against war and climate and whatever else- if nothing changes, would there be a point in writing any more… that’s what the last poem is about… I think, I’ve used up all my energy too now… I need to figure out what I should be writing.
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I do hope you will never lose poetry. Your words are gold.
“when wind has no movement
trees lose verbs
when the stars stop signing
the sky loses nouns”
This sounds absolutely dreadful. But then again, the creative way you expressed this concept is breathtaking.
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Thanks so much, Mary. Glad you liked those lines.
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I understand your wondering what the point of writing would be if nothing changed after all you have written. But then again, I wonder how many poets in the past have felt the same way….and continued on. And another thought I have is that, when it all comes down to it, each poet’s writing is first and foremost for them…a way of getting one’s feelings OUT instead of circling around aimlessly in one’s head.
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Thank you. Yes, it definitely is cathartic but also kind of frustrating. I think taking time off from poetry in May will help me rethink how and what kind of poetry I should write, going forward. Appreciate your kind support.
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You will be missed; but I know breaks are very important for one’s mental health and rejuvenation of spirit! Be well.
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Thanks so much. Will still be around talking about climate and my new chapbook… while pondering and reading 🙂
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I have read that at least we are bearing witness, recording for posterity. But it does get frustrating. We can always write elected officials, I suppose, not that they listen, and do open letters to the editors in major papers. I have to put my angst somewhere, so I put it in poems. Did you see that the little trapped whale finally swam free? She is in open ocean now, trying to find her pod. I pray they reunite as she is too young to hunt on her own. It was like a miracle though, that she got out of the lagoon. Her spirit is so strong and brave. I will write about it later this month.
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Sherry, I did read about the baby orca… so glad…one little thing to feel good about despite the chaos… I do hope she finds the pod… so grateful to all those who didn’t give up on her.
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A drastic loss indeed!
[‘the stars stop signing’? Or should it be ‘singing’?]
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Sign..as when they cannot speak… 😀
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Ah, did think it might be that. (It would be unlike you to commit an error!)
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Thank you… I’m sure I make my fair share, you poetry folk are all too kind!!! 🙂 🙂
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This is beautiful.
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Thank you, Martha 🙏 🙏
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