Poverty-to-Power of Poetry

Last week I enjoyed reading a review¹ on poetry culture.

The reviewer's declaration, about he being a rare-reader of poems, reminded me myself as a poor-reader of poems. That was years ago as a school-boy. 

Impression that I carried the way poetry used to be taught was that it had necessarily to be grammatically correct, full of flowery verses and stuffed with rich words, etc. etc. Foolishly I used to think that more it is incomprehensible, like some typical paintings of well-known artists that only a chosen few professors or research scholars are capable of, richer it is.

In fact, I was one among the best-poors at being unable to read as well as being unable to understand them. That in no way means I read them a lot now. 

But now often, although in the form of broken poems, I do try to express poetically. Believe me, it gives a lot of happiness and satisfaction out of such creations and sharing them if you get an audience. It is rare specie though.

Now that I got one in you, here is an impromptu expression on 'Power-of-Poetry' that the review¹ motivated me to pen down.

'Pover-ty'-to-'Power' of Poetry

आदीच पडलो आमी माटापेक्षा माट
त्यामंदी दीलायसा टकूरयाला तू कवितेचा शाट
आरं दोस्त हाय तर कायबाय ते सरळ सांगकी
हीतं गुरूजीसंगं सारं काडू राहीलं आमची लायकी

पूर्वी लय वाटूलाय, कवीचा इत्का का दरबारी थाट
समध्या भाषा-तासास्नी लावाया आमची पूरती वाट
आता गेलो लिहाया थोडंबी कायमाय-की
समजू येई गड्या मले तर टायमंच न्हायकी

येळ न्हाय म्हनीत सोडलं लेखांचं डराफ्टावर डराफ्ट
समजंना कोनालाबी व्हावलेच जर लाईनींचे सहस्त्रोव पाट
आरं येड्या, चारोळी कवितेची थोरवी न्हाईरं थोडीथोडकी
समजून घेकी तीज्यासमोर तूजीच जराबी न्हाई लायकी

The English version is as follows. 

'Pover-ty'-to-'Power' of Poetry

Already I was a Damn-Dum..m..mBest-Fool
Then how do I decode your poetry-in-school
Can't you befriend-n-prosaic simply-cool
Else they call me a useless Bigger-Fool

Today although I prose many pages-full
That even a Prosaist can't decode with big push-n-pull
Not even after a lot of time and her effortful
Says ²KISS.....s....s..s..sS, You-Damn-Fool

Now I know why poetry is Easy-Fast-n-Vast to mull
Rhyming-n-versing make it even more beau..uu..tiful

Actually both, the theme¹ in the poetry that was reviewed¹ in Loksatta as well as the way it was reviewed, reinforced my thoughts about 'Power-of-Poems'. 

In fact, poetry has power to conquer ( overcome 'poverty' of) mind also. If one takes them as tips, poetry is truly very 'Powerful', 'Easy-Fast-n-Vast' both to  express as well as to understand. 

Just as a picture has power to contain and explain so many words and thoughts, a short poem like it's modern counterpart a Tweet or like a Japanese Haiku can easily convey meanings of so many thoughts otherwise in-expressible even in terms of vast number of proses. It can speedily and easily communicate a vast subject or experience. Maiku is my version of the Haiku. 

It also gives flexibility and liberty to use  dual-meaning rants using slang-language. To that extent, it makes it easy and powerfullly creative for one to express. Rhyming and versing make it  beautiful and easy to digest.

Unlike a speech that activates 15 to 20% of brain cells, it's a fact that a writing exercise activates 85 to 90% of brain cells. Imagine the power of writing a poem then. 

Footnote-1: Review or you may say views of Sanjay-ji Pawar in Loksatta Marathi Daily about Aa-Sanskriti (असंस्कृती: the lack of culture) authored by Abhinaya Ramesh Kamble.

Footnote-2: KISS: Keep-It-Short-n-Sweet! In fact, poetry according to me is a KISS-language! Knowledge-In-Short-n-Sweet-language, I mean!!