This morning I read a new poem by Rajani Radhakrishnan that is a perfect description of how a poem is made and who it becomes as we let it go. Rajani gave me permission to reblog it, so here it is. Please visit her site, ThotPurge to thank her, and while you’re there check out her second blog Phantom Road where she converses with Marcus in a series of haibun poems — equally as evocative. Rajani, I am so grateful to have discovered your poetry.
Everything Becomes A Stranger
even a word in a sentence,
you hold it there, lock it in and
for a while it makes sense
then it begins to work itself loose
wanting to move
wanting to move on
another appears in its place
an unfamiliar voice,
saying something else;
a poem is a silent tree in spate
one by one its green eyes fall
one by one new eyebrows are raised
only you know it is a different tree
the shadows paint another dark
and whatever is flowering
is not caused by your being;
everything becomes a stranger
once it leaves, once it falls
words, worlds,
people,
even you walking away
carrying a poem
carrying a sentence
cast shapes angled into the sun
as if the light is making love to you
in a different language.
– Rajani Radhakrishnan
Sarah Russell Poetry 
Yes. This is really good.
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I’m reading more of her work and learning a lot, Steve. Thanks.
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Thanks so much Sarah!!
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My pleasure. I really admire you work. So glad I found you.
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Perfectly described!
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I thought so too. Having fun this afternoon reading her Marcus haibuns from the beginning. Thanks for stopping by!
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Awesome
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Glad you liked it.
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thanks for sharing this, sarah. so well done –
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Thanks. I thought she described making and letting go of a poem perfectly. Once it’s out there, it isn’t yours anymore, and the alternate readings are both interesting and nerve-wracking.
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It’s very hard to do at times
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Yes, sometimes I want to answer a comment and say, no, what I meant was… And then I realize that it isn’t mine anymore. A good lesson in letting go.
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I like this a lot. Like new ideas become old ideas and are forgotten as new ideas — new poems take their place. Beautiful!
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And when you turn them loose, who knows where they’ll go?
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As wonderful as ever, Rajani. Great share, Sarah 🙂
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I think I met Rajani through you, Ryan. Thank you. Love her work!
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Yep-she’s very special.
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This is a perfect description, our poetry is never truely ours, it all ways belongs to the person who is reading it. Thankyou for sharing.
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Yes, it’s hard sometimes when someone interprets a poem differently than my original intent, but you said it best — after it is written, it belongs to the reader. Thanks for visiting.
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