avatarRadwa Azmi

Summary

The text reflects on the poet's dual existence, carrying the weight of the world and transforming pain and beauty into art, while longing for the simplicity of being the subject of the poem rather than its creator.

Abstract

The poem "The Poet and The Poem" delves into the emotional landscape of poets, who are depicted as burdened by the world's heaviness yet resilient enough to carry their wounds and continue on with hope. It speaks to the collective experience of poets who understand love through its loss, navigate through a city of sadness, and stand firm in the face of a world that does not offer them rest. They are artists who wield beauty and pain, grieving misery while perceiving beauty, and infusing their work with hope. The poem touches on the dichotomy of the poet's life, where some are loved and others scorched by love's flames, yet all continue to write, contrasting the love received by the poem with the pain endured by the poet.

Opinions

  • Poets are portrayed as enduring the weight of the world, suggesting a sense of responsibility or burden that comes with their role.
  • The text conveys a sense of alienation, as poets are not always welcomed or understood, leading them to stand alone and be self-reliant.
  • There is a deep appreciation for the beauty in the world, which poets are lucky to perceive, despite their simultaneous experience of pain and misery.
  • The poem suggests that poets find solace in their art, using it to express hope and transform their experiences into something tangible and beautiful.
  • A poignant contrast is drawn between the love and attention given to the poem (the art) and the often unacknowledged pain of the poet, highlighting the poet's paradoxical existence.
  • The text implies that poets would prefer the simplicity and joy of being the subject of love (the poem) rather than the complex, often painful role of the creator (the poet).

The Poet and The Poem

Poets’ code of honor

[Hanging poems on a cherry tree] Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash

We carry the heaviness of the world and go but the world can not tolerate the heaviness of us hug our wounds and walk aimlessly Only the road and hope can bear us.

We have never known love only swallowed the loss of it we have known the city of sadness enough to walk blindly through it

we know how to stand for years because we were not welcomed to sit we no longer ask for sympathy because we know what to be said.

We are artists whose tools are beauty and pain unlucky enough to grieve the misery, lucky enough to perceive beauty.

We start sculpting them both adding some hope: Look how the sky is so blue look how your eyes are the same too look how green the grass is look how green your heart is too look how red the sunset is look how on fire I will be leaving you look how blooming the flower is I will be there one day true.

Some of us are so homeless with nowhere to put their heavy hearts they admit; we have to carry it all the way and they whine; because they will never know the feeling of being light.

Some of us are loved others just get burned by its flames but do not panic we will always write about how good life can always get you get the love we get the pain.

I did not ask to be the poet I asked to be the poem instead because when you are a poem you are loved and when you are the poet you are in pain.

Poetry
Free Verse
Literatura
Haiku
Self
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