Poetry at Sangam
Poetry at Sangam showcases poetry in English and translations as well as essays on poetics and news of new releases.
Volume VIII | Issue 4
This issue’s guest editor, Kim Dorman, presents poems in which the seemingly mundane takes on a monumentality which is perhaps achieved by observation so focussed that it appears to still the moment, and grazes mysteries that underlie existence.
Sunlight reflects / onto the page/ from a whitewashed wall, he writes, and again, Drongos catch insects / midair. No breeze / comes in. We sweat.
Perhaps his poems wish to ‘unmake’ us, like the long drawn out notes of the Shakuhachi bamboo flute which may end in a flutter that suggests the sudden movement of a breeze in the mind, or a butterfly emerging from tall grasses. This inclusive attention dislodges the self from its privileged position, which is a relief! One also finds resonances here with haiku and tanka, poems imbued with Buddhist thought on the ephemeral and the eternal.
Connecting through social media will be the norm for a long time to come, and true enough, I came across Kim Dorman’s spare poems on Twitter, which I ‘liked’. Next, I noticed we ‘liked’ many of the same kind of images: austere, but not bleak, rather images that wish to unearth the inner ‘beingness’ of things. Alongside, I noticed some of the quotes he posted were from books that might be considered obscure (how many read Lafcadio Hearn aka Koizumi Yakumo today?); but such books illuminate our bookshelf too. I DMed him, and was delighted he accepted to guest edit this issue.
He brings to us the work of six superb poets, of whom I have the honour of knowing Autumn Richardson and Richard Skelton as publisher of my poems in their meditative journal, Reliquiae. Makhdoom Ammar Aziz’s raagmala poems on music and memory came to us as a submission, which our guest editor welcomed.
As Pune, the city I live in, and the district, earns, I’m informed, the dubious distinction of currently being the world’s Covid capital, time dilates –as it has in numerous places around the world that experienced the pandemic’s intensity. Small occurrences gain significance, like in a film’s slow –motion sequence or the stretched seconds of life-threatening danger. This issue’s poems appear particularly timely as we seek to gain strength by being attentive to offerings birthed in a solitude we did not know we possess.
For instance, many of us awaken to birdcalls we weren’t aware of earlier, and we lie in bed, stirred and thankful. At the same time, fear and anxiety wade through us who are among the fortunate. Our lives are double-toned by intense gratitude and the fragility of the passing moment, which might well take us with it.
Time, perhaps, to let surfaces be surfaces and rejoice in its textures even as we bathe in the sacredness of the everyday. Each poet in this issue does this: sieve, cherish, share.
Priya Sarukkai Chabria
Editor, Poetry at Sangam.
I want to thank Priya Sarukkai Chabria for inviting me to be guest-editor for this edition of Poetry at Sangam. I am excited and humbled by this wonderful opportunity. In addition to the requisite six, I’ve selected a seventh poet whose work was recommended to me. Each poet has a distinctive voice and vision.
Makhdoom Ammar Aziz is a Pakistani poet and a documentary filmmaker whose poems weave personal and fictional narratives as they explore memory and myth. Ammar’s cycle of poems inspired by Hindustani ragas have an old world atmosphere and sincerity that touches me. I’m happy to have been introduced to his work.
Joshua Edwards is an American poet, translator, and editor. He was born on the island of Galveston, Texas. “I identify closely with the poetics of gelassenheit, flux, and uncertainty that I see in a vague affiliation of wandering lyrical poets.” Joshua’s warm, generous poems are steeped in a kind of philosophical humility. I admire them a lot.
Hoa Nguyen was born in the Mekong Delta, and raised in the United States. She now lives in Toronto. Her poems are elliptical, fragmented, sonically alive, and socially aware. Though autobiographical and filled with details of everyday life, they are often laced with mythological and cultural references. Hoa’s recent poems about her mother’s life in Vietnam are powerful and moving.
Peter O’Leary is an American poet and scholar. His poems are deeply informed by theology and myth. He is that rare thing in the twenty first century: a religious poet. At the same time, his work is informed by precise, almost scientific, observation of nature. Peter’s poems are both earthly and soaring. I’ve been amazed and inspired by them for many years.
Autumn Richardson is a poet, editor, and publisher. Her lucid, condensed poems are grounded in both physical and spiritual realities. Reading Autumn’s work, I’m reminded of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ concept of ‘inscape’ — “the outward reflection of the inner nature of a thing” — and ‘instress’ — the energy which holds things together. Few contemporary poets fuse the inner and outer worlds with such directness and clarity.
Richard Skelton is a British artist, musician and composer, as well as poet. His work feels both ancient and new. As a poet, he has been called a keeper of lost words. Richard’s poems are incantatory and have a ritualistic quality. They seem to exist outside the realm of literature. They seem closer to prayer.
Dale Martin Smith is an American poet and scholar. His poems are auto-biographical; personal, yet universal. They are permeated with history and geography; socially aware and impassioned. At the same time, they can be quiet, even tender. Dale weaves textures of culture and memory that explore and question the experience of being alive in a volatile world. For almost two decades his work has sustained me.
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I believe that being a poet is more than a profession or career choice. I believe it is a calling or vocation in the original sense. A life’s work. I realize this is an out-dated, romantic point of view. Rilke once wrote that art is simply what we must do to stay true to ourselves. These poets are true to themselves and to the art of poetry. I feel honored to have this chance to present some of their poems.
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