Power to the Poetry
Posted on Jan 15th, 2008
by 
Innish
Innish
I was reading Rumi last night and had an "ah-ha!" moment.
I've always felt that writing was less effective/affective than music or artwork, as those two were accessible without knowledge of any specific language or culture, and deciphering the squiggles on a page required both. So writing felt like a step-child in that way, such an intellectual exercise. It required that you understand the language, preferably that you know the culture. In any event, it pretty much required that the reader/listener be active and engage with the work.
But I realized that while visual/sound art are available to anyone anywhere as long as they can see or hear, their principal impact is immediate and in the presence of the object. A painting remembered or song snippet has a diminished effect, compared to the power of standing in front of an original work of art or hearing a symphony.
But a poem remembered, even only a phrase or the meaning/lesson, can linger in the heart and head of a reader, can actually come into a person's life to help them through a difficult time, can give them wisdom to frame their experience, and allows the rememberer to perhaps help someone else by telling the poem or the phrase. They're dharma, really. Experiential wisdom passed down.
I can't tell you how many times I've been in a difficult situation and remembered a poem -- typically a Rumi poem -- that helped me get through it. "Be thankful, even, of the robber who comes in to clean out your furniture, for he is clearing you out for something better."
So I realized that I was thinking of writing from an intellectual standpoint; Rumi wrote from a heart standpoint. Simple images, simple phrasing, but deep heartfelt experience and love for his listener.
That's how I've always wanted to write. That's how I will from now on.
I've always felt that writing was less effective/affective than music or artwork, as those two were accessible without knowledge of any specific language or culture, and deciphering the squiggles on a page required both. So writing felt like a step-child in that way, such an intellectual exercise. It required that you understand the language, preferably that you know the culture. In any event, it pretty much required that the reader/listener be active and engage with the work.
But I realized that while visual/sound art are available to anyone anywhere as long as they can see or hear, their principal impact is immediate and in the presence of the object. A painting remembered or song snippet has a diminished effect, compared to the power of standing in front of an original work of art or hearing a symphony.
But a poem remembered, even only a phrase or the meaning/lesson, can linger in the heart and head of a reader, can actually come into a person's life to help them through a difficult time, can give them wisdom to frame their experience, and allows the rememberer to perhaps help someone else by telling the poem or the phrase. They're dharma, really. Experiential wisdom passed down.
I can't tell you how many times I've been in a difficult situation and remembered a poem -- typically a Rumi poem -- that helped me get through it. "Be thankful, even, of the robber who comes in to clean out your furniture, for he is clearing you out for something better."
So I realized that I was thinking of writing from an intellectual standpoint; Rumi wrote from a heart standpoint. Simple images, simple phrasing, but deep heartfelt experience and love for his listener.
That's how I've always wanted to write. That's how I will from now on.
Access: Public
dhamma
August 2008 
That is a pretty damned powerful “ah-ha” moment!!! Thank you for sharing and kudos for the depth of your insight. I was reading you words and feeling them. As I read of the immediate cross-cultural joy that is felt in hearing music and viewing paintings, and having experienced these joys myself, part of me is thinking “yea, it sucks to be a poet, tough to compete with that.” Then you provide the “ah-ha” of the uplifting, universal and eternal power in poetry and I am uplifted also. Thank you!
The heart can sing through words that touch the soul, with depth, for eternity, with love, for love is all there is, the mind can forget, the heart remembers forever…… and life
and life……. doesn't suck
Sings to Eagles
David
Thanks, David! Kind words, indeed.loveki