POETRY IN THE AGE OF TWITTER
As I continue this series on the poems and poets on Twitter, I should note that I have deliberately chosen to focus on women writers. It isn’t that there are few men writing poetry; far from it. But we are still a long way off from being a gender-neutral society, and unfortunately the arts are no exception. Until the balance scale evens out, then, I feel an obligation to promote the accomplishments of women, particularly in those endeavors I care most about, such as poetry and writing in general. Perhaps someday someone more qualified than I will work up a truly comprehensive survey of poetry on Twitter produced by both sexes. I look forward to that day.
Dawn Serbert is a young poet living in the UK. Her poetry ranges from the wryly Gothic to the lyrical. An example of the former illustrates her fine use of noirish elements. Shadows and secrets lurk in the background; confusion and illusion dance a duet, while Serbert playfully pairs layer and lair as a nice bonus for the senses. The meter is strongly reminiscent of Edgar Allen Poe:
You were there
In the shadows
Hidden by the layers
In the dark
So focussed
I was jaded in the lair
Now i’m blinking
Back confusion
For the shadows
Of fates untold
Under no illusion
Of the desperate
Secrets yet to unfold
In a more lyrical vein is this piece:
My mind is a tunnel
Of unexplained thoughts
Feelings, emotions
Of lessons once taught
Swimming through dreams
That aspire in motion
Drifting past moments
That are beautifully broken
Here meter and imagery compliment one another nicely. Serbert captures the lazy drift of free association and the pure pleasure of letting the mind wander. Thought and music are given free reign in this piece.
Occasionally Serbert combines the Gothic and lyrical to dark and lusty purpose:
Regret falls in rivers of aches
And seduces me in
The hurting so sweet in it’s kiss
It’s lust born in sin
But the end of the path
Is paved in scorn and stone
The tunnel alight
With fire and chaos unknown..
She is at her best in pieces such as this. I can add nothing more, other than to urge you to follow Dawn Serbert on Twitter, and enjoy the ride.
Beenish is a wonderful young poet and essayist and new arrival on the Twitter scene. Raised in the worn-torn region of Kashmir, on the India-Pakistan border, Beenish is an amazingly strong, resilient young lady. Despite her circumstances (or perhaps because of her experiences) she has remained both strong and compassionate through adversity. In addition to being a gifted writer, she is currently studying to be a doctor. Her strength and independence are reflected in her writings:
We can feel the sadness in this piece, but we can also sense the hope that comes to us from love bestowed. Beenish has a refreshingly free and open take on life. She is wise beyond her years, as in this paean to her grandmother:
My grandmother once told me, “Be humble in the knowledge that all you have now can one day be gone and thankful in the knowledge that once you had less.”
Or this:
“Write and write until the truth becomes the norm.”
In this age of Trumpism and its repeated assaults on a free press, her words take on an urgency and potency that, in more normal times, they might not otherwise have. In the interest of full disclosure, I am proud to say that I was among the first to welcome Beenish to the Twitterverse. She is a spring breeze, and a welcome one, at that. Follow her on Twitter @beenishwrites. You’ll be so glad you did.
Let’s see one more gifted writer, and then call it a day, shall we?
In her profile, fall calls herself “An open book, never read.” In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Hailing from Vancouver, British Columbia, fall has been a presence on Twitter since 2012, and in that time has garnered quite a following. Let’s start with one of my favorites:
I gave myself
To the meek melodies
Of the night
Into the soothing hands
Of its quiet
And that is how
I survived
It would be a disservice to the poet and the poem were I to dissect this piece. Suffice it to say the alliteration of “meek melodies” is what makes this poem soar. And here’s another:
let them say what they may
if this has never been done before
perhaps it is because
no one has ever loved so pure
The rhymed couplet is almost as venerable a form as any in the poet’s toolkit, and fall uses it to good effect here. And here:
between the waves
the ocean’s secrets
are tenderly turning
understood by all
capable of discerning
Good poetry can speak for itself. A good reviewer knows when to get out of the way, and let the poems have their say. Follow fall @rainyreverie and enjoy!
Tomorrow, in part three of this series, as promised I will be giving over this entire space to my favorite poet, a woman who is arguably the most talented of all the poets on Twitter today. Stay tuned!