BLOG OF THE WEEK ~ THOTPURGE

This week, my friends, we would like to introduce one of our newer members, Rajani, who writes at Thotpurge. Rajani lives in India, as so many of our lovely members do. I can see a Poets United tea happening there one day! Once again we are boarding a plane for a trans-Atlantic flight, because we cannot get enough of the beauty that is India. It is a country that seems to have a large population of very talented poets.

Sherry: Rajani, it is so nice to be meeting with you. What part of India do you call home? 

Rajani: First of all, thank you for featuring my blog on Poets United. I’ve been visiting the site for a few months now, and it’s been fabulous reading the work of excellent poets from all over the world. I live in Bangalore, in southern India, a city that has developed into a major software hub in recent years.

Sherry: I know there are some other Poets United members in and around Bangalore. It is very beautiful there. I'm intrigued that you named your blog Thotpurge. Are blogging and poetry a release for you?

Rajani: It was name that I picked many years ago when I set up my first poetry blog...a spur-of-the-moment thing, not a lot of “Thot” went into it!  Strangely, though I have gone through different blogging platforms, the name has stuck.  I find writing poetry immensely satisfying, but I don’t think of it as a “release” just as yet. That’s part of the plan though - to delve deeper into myself and be able to articulate more honest feelings...maybe then it would be cathartic in a real sense.

Sherry: Let's take a look at three of your favourite poems. Would you tell us a bit about each one? 

Rajani: It’s hard to pick three favourites, Sherry, or even one for that matter!  I used to write only free verse, (was just general rambling really), but slowly started enjoying the challenge of different forms.  I’ve written quite a few “Poetweets” that are exactly 140 characters in length (derived from the limit on Twitter of course). I like poems that are not just descriptive, but convey a distinct mood, or perhaps have layers that each reader uncovers in a totally different way. Hopefully, I can write at that level some day, but for now, here’s a poetweet that I enjoyed writing:

Kabini Reserve

Sepia Sky

The moon is swirling in my coffee cup tonight,
coming apart at its silver seams,
hands tremble as I watch it drown
in my starless sepia sky.

Sherry: That is truly lovely - especially the "starless sepia sky". 

Rajani: I’ve dabbled in haiku on and off- I appreciate the challenge of its brevity. But very recently, I started writing haibun which incorporates both a travel related narrative and haiku. Travel is one thing I enjoy as much as poetry, so it’s sheer joy to be able to combine the two. Here’s one sample:

( Muscat, Oman )

Original Secret

Inside unblinking eyes, a mocking wave reveals the mantra of creation- sometimes exposing a soft blue shoulder, sometimes flicking a questioning toe, sometimes letting the wind peel her gossamer veil of froth.

Do we rush to the ocean’s edge, so the original mysteries can sing to us like finely tuned conch shells. Do we know that everything, that has any meaning, is tucked inside the damp crease of the horizon where the sky folds into the sea? Do we watch the tide waltz with the moon in a primal circadian rhythm that echoes inside our borrowed souls? If this is where it began, is this where it will end?

looking back at the waves
I see my footsteps
following me

Sherry: I really like haibun, too. This is a lovely one. The idea of the sky folding into the sea is especially beautiful. And the photo is amazing. 

Rajani: The third poem I’d like to share with you, Sherry, is in Ghazal form.  Ghazals are a part of the music we listen to here, but mainly in Hindi or Urdu.  To even think of a ghazal in English was difficult at first. Usually, a poem is almost fully formed in my head before I hit the keyboard, and then the end product is completely different, of course, except for a couple of key lines. So I set out to write something else, but this is what I ended up with.

Pangong Lake

This Hour

watch how the candle burns, from the tallow of this hour
clocks stand with folded arms, how will time follow this hour

clouds and stars shut their eyes, bombs rain down on naked fear
who will count heads and limbs, red rivers overflow this hour

death cries into trembling hands, its lifeline smudged by tears
humanity twists up in smoke, charred souls bellow this hour

shredded screams like fireworks, streak across the swollen sky
one last child, one last wail, who will bear sorrow this hour

somewhere the world sleeps in peace, somewhere the flowers bloom
someone checks one more box, in a screen’s blue glow this hour

Sherry: Ghazals are so lovely. The way this poem opens, and then travels through strife into, at the end, the thought of a world elsewhere sleeping in peace, is such a contrast. I think of that, often, living where I do, knowing how people suffer in other parts of the world.  Your photos are breathtaking - you live amidst such beauty!

Did you write as a child,  or did you come to it as an adult? Were you encouraged towards the arts in childhood?

Rajani: I’ve always loved to read and was encouraged to do so as a child. But I realize I was reading western authors and poets without any context, filling all the gaps in understanding with graphic imagination. Now, with travel and the internet, the pieces are all falling in place.  I did write a little even in school, but I don’t think I shared it with anyone.

Sherry: Do you write more, with a blog,  than you might if you did not have this platform for sharing your work?

Rajani: Being able to share my poetry on social media has helped enormously - in terms of confidence and experimentation with different forms. Interaction, prompts and communities stimulate the creative process. As for quantity, oh yes, I never would have tried to write a poem-a-day in April, if not for the buzz and support online.

Sherry: Me neither! What hopes and dreams do you have for your writing in the years ahead?

Rajani: I barely know a handful of people among friends and family who read poems, most run a mile from poetry of any sort, so I’d love to get more of them to connect in some way.  But mostly I’d like to write more from within myself, and reflective of my own roots and culture.  It’s a lot harder than I imagined!

Sherry: But you do it so well! Thank you for sharing your work and your thoughts with us today, Rajani. We look forward to enjoying much more of your work as time goes on.

Another fellow poet on her poetic pilgrimage, my friends. Wasn't this lovely? Do come back and see who we talk to next. Who knows? It might be you!