As a Poet

For all my fellow poets and writers and critics.

As a Poet

 

As a poet my job is too feel

Every spasm of a useless situation

And to document a reality in its most abstract form

To commit sins where practical people prefer not to belong

 

As a poet I need to memorize the procedures

And modus operandi of living and dying

Simultaneously in many different forms

People expect me to create an illusion of the known

And call it unknown in their own known language

 

As a poet I must learn to infuse snowfall

In a famine and drought, light a cigarette in a oscillating

Sea storm with my final matchstick, sing songs with

The best devils in town; sleep with sick women

And impress the beautiful ones with act of being profound

 

I must live only with the hollowness of my own being

Marry the harshness of my silent sentences

And die when others around me have finished enjoying

The final chop of criticizing my human habits and

Normal

Ways and methods I use to get around the city streets

 

As a poet I’m at least sometimes allowed to be a regular human

In a horde of otherwise excused wordless normal people.

 

Author's Note

This is an unusual poem from me, I know. Hardly any visual effect or onomatopoeia. But this my uttermost personal form of existential confession. Hope you'd like it.

Reviews

[Mike Espinosa]

This is an interesting poem. You come across and sincere in your description of who you are.

However, your breaks feel a bit awkward in some of the stanzas. When I read the breaks, I am cutting off in the middle of phrases that shouldn't be. I stumbled a few times through this piece because of the breaks. The one that I suggest immediate edit is in the second to last stanza, "The final chop of criticizing my human habits and / Normal / Ways and methods I use to get around the city streets."

Also, if you are going to use a period at the end of the poem, you should use punctuation throughout, as a matter of uniformity. Either whole poem with punctuation or whole poem without. Half and half seems a little sloppy.

Overall, this is a fine poem. Good job.

[Nirmala]

Luckily nature, life and death have a multitude of avenues of artistic expression not over taxing just the poet, with the art of words! I hope not ‘...And impress the beautiful ones with act of being profound’. There is a little strain in the poem with unexpected breaks. It is an interesting angle from a poet’s point of view and one that will make for great discussion.

[Prateeksha Khot]

Ishan, dats a really good poem. I liked it

[Chloe..Across the Unive..]

Good reading and so interesting.. i have not read you before though i have seen many of your reviews..you are a poet with a poet's soul.
Beautiful descriptions..

Chloe

[Miss Coral]

Despite its difference from your usual work, I really like this piece. I think that the flow could use a little more work, but otherwise, I felt that this was a strong piece. Great job. :)

[Elaine]

I love this. It's great! Keep it up. nice job.

[Dom Macchiaroli]

well done, Ishan

[miSS LEaf]

this is soo good! my admiration toward your displayed skills goes beyond words, well done :) ~L

[Fabian G. Franklin]

I think the variety of poetry equals that of personal thought and experience or even personal philosophy and aspiration; that said, each poet might find originality in the personal origins of their craft. No two souls, hearts or minds are the same. Beauty can be as breathtaking as suffocation and longing as painful as strangulation.
The human condition is suffering and while all poet's suffer, not all view suffering and death as negative concepts. Some view them as merely consequences and attributes of life. So while I admire and appreciate your philosophy, I do not necessarily conform to the tenants required by it. Each poet is as unique as each life and individual perspective. Just my thoughts. The write was very good here and a pleasure to read.

[StacyPerry]

This one stood out for me as thinking as a poet....it comes as a very interesting and unique write.

[indieRokker]

Very interesting. You have amazing vocabulary, the way you put your words into motion and the wayu they flow. It's intriguing. I Like it, great job :)

keep writing, always
indie♥