History is crucified
in a half burnt stage directly in front of open eyes; Neruda’s
poem is lying near the
dead
bodies of children, and a young girl is standing like a black
shadow resisting the suppression of the voice and sight of the
young generation. The lines on the palms have been question
marked. These things happen in front of people belonging to all
generations.
What is the truth of poetry? In other words, what is poetry
itself? A subject which is discussed a lot is not a new theme.
In fact all societies and intellectuals have their own thoughts
on this issue. Intellectuals of our contemporary period feel
that poetry should talk about the realities of society, reality
means the rawness and the cruelty we see around us. At the same
time a large number of people still enjoy poetry in lyric,
appreciate beauty and imagination in filmy style. I sometimes
wonder -- the critic says that poetry should be of people
related to the earth, but the earth belongs to so many other
creatures, like earthworms, worms, snakes, lizards, spiders and
so on. Romantic poetry was poetry that devoted itself to the
beautiful things around us – the romantic poets talked a lot
about flowers, butterflies, clouds, mountains and the
innumerable things in nature that stirred the sense of beauty in
human beings and inspired them to appreciate the wonderful
creations of this world. Truly speaking, poetry has in the real
sense ignored those who are close to the earth. In our
selfishness, we think for ourselves, only for ourselves; with
this state of mind, how can we think for or about others who are
closer to the earth than we?
I keep open this question for the readers,
I want to bring this issue for hope for the world without wall.
The artist of this issue is a Hindi poet and an artist, who uses
lines to create a new kind of poetic world.
With best wishes
Rati Saxena