slip-sliding away…..

I just finished reading How Poetry Can Change your Heart – a wonderful, short, yet impactful book by spoken word poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley.

I read it over a few weeks – in pieces at a time – and enjoyed it to the very end. I loved how easy it was to read. How the language itself was poetic…descriptive…emotive…the experience of reading it fitted the subject perfectly.

I loved how it highlighted the various aspects of a form that I’ve already been writing for a long time, but never formally stopped to think about, and never formally studied (beyond what I learned at school).

I loved how it brought into focus what I’ve known for a long time: how the little moments of beauty are poetry in motion…those moments, like the other day when I watched sunlight stream into my daughter’s room, while the pink curtain and see-through net behind it blew in the wind. Or that day – a Saturday in late Ramadaan – when I read Quran in her room, with the afternoon sun – again – streaming in, and the air of peace pervading the atmosphere. I took a picture, and video, afterwards to capture it. To remind myself of it. To remind myself to do that again. To try, at least. Because there was so much peace in those moments. Such tranquility. Alhamdullilah.

Going forward, the book highlighted several practices I’d like to inculcate:

Writing (at least) 10 minutes every day

I see this as primarily freewriting, and I’ve already long-established it in the act of journaling. But I’m not consistent in it. And I need to be. Not to produce something worthy of being read by others…but simply to exercise the writing muscle and give myself more of a chance of things flowing.

I’ve operated – all these years – almost totally on inspiration. And while I am happy with what has come, I would like my writing to be something more than just a fleeting fancy. I would like to develop more…even if it remains mediocre and un-readable by others.

I know what writing means to me…what it does for me. And I want to make a more regular habit of it.

Spoken word

I’ve admired a few spoken word poets for a number of years now, but always seen the form as something not suited to me. Those that I’ve listened to have – in my mind – been more akin to rappers who flow without the background music.

Yet, it doesn’t have to be that way.

I had the opportunity to speak to a creative person I really admire recently, and he encouraged me to start putting my poems into readings. He spoke about how, when the writer – the poet – reads their own words, it’s so much more meaningful. Because you know what you meant when you wrote it. You know how each bit is supposed to sound out loud.

Speaking it aloud allows you to convey it with the tone, pauses, and other effects – that you had in mind when you wrote.

And so, his encouragement simply added fuel to what was already a tiny flame I’d had inside – when I was considering doing a book trailer for my now-published anthology.

I put these thoughts down here – now – as a means of reminding myself that I want to give this a try…even if I keep it private and don’t produce any publicly-shared audio (or video – as I could also put together videos with still or moving images as the visual backdrop to the readings).

Reading (regularly)

I loved reading in my childhood. But that love died..or at least, fell into the background as I grew older. And despite several attempted revivals, I’ve never really gotten back into it in a consistent way. The desire – and habit – of buying books, of course, has long been present. I have tons and tons of books I felt passionate about at the time of acquisition, yet have never followed through to finish them, or even – ashamedly – taken notes and benefit from them (in the non-fiction category, that is).

At the start of our lockdown (now around 100 days ago), I resolved to start Lord of the Rings again – having twice failed to get far in my previous attempts over the course of my life (once in primary school and then at university). I’ve seen the movies many times, of course – but that doesn’t diminish my desire to read the actual books.

And I’ve been far more consistent in this endeavour over these past few months – though I’m still not as regular as I want to be. But I’m keeping at it, and really enjoying it. Not just for the story, but for the beauty of the language…how Tolkien writes…it’s poetic. The ‘ordinary’ – storytelling bits – are written poetically. And that is a wonderful thing. (Ironically, I find myself skipping over the actual poems within the book – because they hold no appeal.)

It reminds me of Muhammad Asad’s The Road to Mecca – which, years ago, also blew me away with simply the way he wrote (aside from what he wrote about).

So anyway…the takeaway from How Poetry Can Change your Heart is to read more. Not necessarily every single day. Not as a strict practice…because I am also very aware of the overload effect and wish to give my mind space without constant input…for creativity. My creativity, at least – needs space, rather than clutter.

I have plenty to read. And I want to indulge a lot more frequently.

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All of this, dear reader, is my set of reminders – which I post here so that, if these practices wither away, I can always come back to this post and (hopefully) refresh these intentions.

For those who have not read How Poetry Can Change your Heart, I highly recommend you do so. Get the printed edition if you can, because the design itself is an experience (even though the colour choices may not be the most palatable).

What about you?

Have any writing-related books made an impact on you? What were your takeaways? And have you stuck with those practices? Let me know in the comments.