THE FIRST POETRY ASSIGNMENTS

It is really interesting when people begin to write poetry and then circulate it. The interaction between those writing poetry, as they read the poems out to each other, and critique it will lead to better work. Writing poetry is hard work, if one is to come to a decent form and style. This, apart from the experiences and feelings and impressions and influences one encounters which are then distilled into what emerges as a "poem".
So here are the first attempts of the students to write poetry that is lyrical. By the way, these poems have been edited by A.V. Koshy so that the students know how to make them more compact and stylish and how to capture both idea and feeling.

ROSHAN ALI

1.

Fall down, misery, down my cheek

Towards earth and stone

Wet the soil.

Heart of sad songs - heavy, sad songs

Life, reduced to the trickle on my cheek.

2.

Smiles flowed freely
From one to the other.
Their looks rarely lingered.
Their minds never bothered.

With an underlying deceit
That allowed no feelings
Their eyes roamed freely,
An amphora of peelings.

Unfamiliar bodies
Rubbed lightly together.
Alcohol washed away
The last bits of bother.

3.

The clock beside me spoke the time
And as if aware of its incalculable chime
I trod the ground beside the door
Rising to see, not rising to go.

Years of pathetic sins degrade
The soul and mind begin to fade
I cannot lie for eternity
There will be an end to pity

Common were our nightly walks
A bird, a tree, an occasional fox
We spoke and laughed and lightly touched
Eyes and voice, divine,

(ends)

WHAT WE DID ON JULY 28

1. We concentrated on reading handouts from A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN by Betty Smith that led to active thinking and discussions on why one writes and what one should write about.

2. We then engaged with the fact that two terms - poetic and poetry (poem/s) - need to be distinguished. As an example, the lyrics of the Genesis song "The Cinema Show" from the album "Selling England by the Pound" was examined and compared to the section it was inspired by - a part of the "Fire Sermon" by T.S. Eliot from "The Wasteland." The students could easily grasp that while the latter was effective as music, it was only poetic whereas Eliot's lines were poetry.

3. The concept of inspiration/influence was also looked at.

4. The students understood that the development of art, design and poetry follows a purist-classicist-romanticist- modernist-post-modernist curve. The linkages between art, design and poetry were as they watched Genesis perform The Slippermen (from "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway"), as proof of their abilty to be ahead of their time in connecting costuming, theatricality, performative art, classical music, literature (poetry/lyrics), rock music, rock opera etc. to be very much a part of the avant garde.

5.Then we dealt with the terms lyric and lyrical by examining the love song, the rock lyric, the bardic or troubadourish /folk singer-ish quality of Bob Dylan's songs in the film "Don't Look Back" by D. Pennebaker.

6. The students found the terms poetic, lyrical, poem and lyric inter-changeable many a time and this was confusing for them. However, the lyrics of "Ramona" by Dylan touched a chord in all of them as they listened to the song and read the words. It was set forth as an example of poem, poetic, lyric and lyrical in the old, original Grecian sense of the word. As in : song/s in simple but often beautiful words set to music/a tune with melody/harmony and played/written for an instrument.

7. We screend a Norwegian award winning short film called "Anolit", watched with the intention of spotting the lyrical moments and the poetic moments in it. The students more or less correctly pointed the expected moments out.

8. The students had then to make one liners as definitions of the poetic and the lyrical and found it slightly tough.

9. Reading exercises given to them included reading the handouts which had in it a poem by Berryman left untouched in the course of the day's teaching and reading Marianne Faithfull's " As Tears Go By" , Bob Dylan's "It's all right Ma, I'm only bleeding." They are expected to read love songs, poems and lyrics by writers like Leonard Cohen.

10. Writing assignment: 12-16 lines of poetry with rhyme. Also, each student is to bring into the next class an old piece of writing they consider a poem, lyric, lyrical or poetic.

WHAT THIS COURSE IS ABOUT!

It feels good to be doing a course on Poetry or, to use a wider term, the Lyrical. This is what Koshy and I intend to do this time around.

Enduring Understandings

· The poetic and the lyrical are modes of expression and communication needed not only by writers but also by designers and artists
· The ability to read, listen to, appreciate and create one’s own poems and lyrics abets this process.

Misconceptions and Assumptions

· The lyric and what is lyrical are the same.

· The poetic and poetry are the same.

· Poetry and its influence has ceased to be of much relevance in today’s world.

· Reading, understanding, enjoying, appreciating and writing poetry is only for the few and not for everyone.

Questions

· Are the definitions of lyric, lyrical, poetic, poetry and influence clear to you?

· Are the bridges already there or the ones you can make between these terms and art and design clear to you?

· Which is more powerful the verbal lyric or the lyric aided by audio- visuals etc?

· What are the different types of lyrics?

· Are you aware of the history of the lyric’s growth and evolution?

· Where do you think the lyrical mode will go/take you from now and here?