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On The Poet And Poetry: The Complete Text

1
Shakespeare and Kalidas and Homer
had no need to flaunt qualifications
so don’t trumpet too much of yours

2
in this kingdom
where one writes
there is no seniority, each is equal

3
it is not important to be a poet;
the thing is to bring the poetry

4
one may win titles
and may be crowned Poet Laureate:
but only time points out
the poet from the crumpet

5
none of your self
and none of your importance here:
just poetry, if you can,
poetry is all that’s needed

6
poetry can be
like a sky filled with wrangling clouds
or as a sky without a wisp

7
in poetry one wakes from dreams
and it may yet be
that one’s wakefulness is itself but a dream

8
in poetry there are no
clichés in thought and phrase;
and what is left there is
the resplendent and the living

9
the writer who repeats
inaptly
word, phrase and concept read or heard
comes second-hand into a market for bad verse

10
one writes;
one does not fill one’s mind with the words:
I want to achieve

11
one writes and
the self disappears
and what is left is understanding

12
poetry leaves one
rich inside
and ordinary outside

13
the fool defines poetry
and poetry defies all definitions

14
poetry entertains, inspires;
poetry tickles, distracts, and shapes and frees -
but its true intent, no one knows

15
expand your understanding of the self –
it includes the world

16
if one had no coins
one cannot buy bread;
but not all the world’s wealth
can bring you poetry

17
celebrate your locality
but go beyond the parochial;
go beyond the region’s arrogance
to reach minds across cyberspace

18
many lines, and countless lines
many pages, and thick volumes
don’t make poetry

19
Oh no!
Not another love poem!
Oh no!
Not another poem about oneself!

20
rhyme, technique and meter
and tricks of prosody
don’t make poetry: passion does

21
the fool speaks of having
written the most number of poems in the world;
and the same fool speaks of quantity

22
we rarely succeed
if one does not go
beyond oneself

23
you wink, you twinkle
you want praise;
you write and you publish online
and you want to win titles –
and so poetry eludes you always

24
a hundred titles, a hundred prizes
a hundred spots of fame
and international renown
all these pale, all pale
before a single line of luminosity

25
the ambitious write pathetic verse;
the lover yields
and poetry embraces such a one

poem by Raj Arumugam
Added by Poetry Lover
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