Arrests and Assassinations

Sadly, in the news this week there have been two examples of the right to free speech being restricted in the literary world.  Firstly, Zhu Yufu, a Chinese poet, has been charged with 'subversion' because of a poem he wrote and published online.  A pro-democracy activist, he has been arrested before for similar charges.  I can't find the full English translation of the poem, but here is the small extract that has been in the news:

It's time, Chinese people!
The square belongs to everyone
the feet are yours
it's time to use your feet and take to the square to make a choice 

I think the fact that the government takes his poetry so seriously as to go to the extreme measure of arresting him goes some way in demonstrating the power of the written word.  Especially in a world so heavily reliant on the internet, poems and their messages can be spread quicker than ever before, and clearly that instills fear in those who want to control what people think.  If anyone knows where a full English translation of the poem can be found, I'd love to read it.

Secondly, the famous writer Salman Rushdie has had to cancel his appearance at the Jaipur Literary Festival due to threats made to kill him if he attends.  His writing has always been extremely contentious in the Muslim world, with a fatwa requiring his assassination being proclaimed in 1989 (which I believe has since been lifted).  While I'm not a particular Rushdie fan - my only experience with his work being a failed attempt to get through The Satanic Verses several years ago - the notion that anyone should even entertain the idea of killing him because of what he writes is shocking.  Again, we see how powerful the written word can be.

It is sometimes easy when hearing of events like this to think 'how awful, that would never happen here' ("here" being the UK, the US or the democratised Western world in general) but one of the fears of the SOPA/PIPA debate this week is that these bills could have paved the way for governments to, sometime in the future, carry out more widespread censorship.  It was not that long ago, in 1956, that the writer of one of my favourite poems was arrested for publishing obscene literature in the US.  I will refrain from comment on the poem, as today's blog post is all about the power of poetry and writing, and I think the power in the images in this poem speak for themselves!

'Howl' by Allen Ginsberg.  Read it here: http://www.wussu.com/poems/agh.htm

The Sea Question

I've grown up going down to Cornwall pretty regularly, where my dad grew up. I went a couple of weeks ago and was once again reminded of the immensely therapeutic power of the sea.  Here's a poem about that.

The Sea Question, by Elizabeth Smithers

The sea asks 'How is your life now?'
It does so obliquely, changing colour.
It is never the same on any two visits.

It is never the same in any particular
Only in generalities: tide and such matters
Wave height and suction, pebbles that rattle.

It doesn't presume to wear a white coat
But it questions you like a psychologist
As you walk beside it on its long couch.

I like how this poem describes the sea as asking you how you are 'obliquely', indirectly, as it goes about it's usual business of ebbing and flowing and waving.  For me, this poem perfectly sums up how being near the sea always encourages me to be that little bit more reflective and thoughtful. Just like the sea never being the same on any two visits as described in the poem, I am never the same on any two visits either.  As with the sea, my 'generalities' stay the same (my name, my appearance, etc) but my feelings, my circumstances, change and  I love the personification of the sea here, questioning you, also changing, and yet being comforting too.  

Living in London, I often wonder if the sea would seem quite as powerfully peaceful if I were near it all the time, or whether the relaxing influence I associate with it is linked to the fact that I'm only ever by the sea on holiday. Whatever the answer to that, I hope other people will be able to identify with the sense of calm I get from being near the sea, the way it helps me put my life into perspective.  If no one reading this can identify, at least I know Elizabeth Smithers feels the same!  That's one of the wonderful things about poetry; it lets you know that you aren't the only one with a particular thought or feeling.  

Love

I haven't updated this blog for a little while but what with Christmas, New Year and coming towards the end of my job, I've been pretty busy.  I had a great festive period though and hope that anyone reading this did as well.  One of my favourite things about this festive period was spending lots of time with my boyfriend (thanks for an amazing Christmas and New Year if you ever read this, Michael!)  I've steered clear of love poems so far, but tonight I'm going to tackle the subject with two of my favourite poems. 

In The Dying of Anything by Brian Patten

Speaking only that our words might bend grasses,

make paths which are both simple and possible,

we talk together and failing with words we touch.

There is nothing simpler nor more human than this.

Once ignorant of any feeling's end

we dreamt in proportion to galaxies,

measuring each other against rainbows love burst,

fell softly soaking us.

But we lie quieter now,

older,

arms pressed out against darkness.

In the dying of anything walks a creature looking for its song:

huge, it bends down planets that it might ask them

the ways back to life again.

No longer one steady and running stream

we are glad to lie here,

catching what life and light we can.

There is nothing simpler, nothing more human than this.

I love how this poem encapsulates some of my ideals of love, for instance, having shared dreams 'in proportion to galaxies' (which I think really sums up the ecstatic feeling of being able to do anything together), and the idea of going through life together, making things 'simple and possible'.  I also love that this poem ends with the couple still being together and protecting each other from the darkness.  The end can seem sad, with the images of water, life and light becoming scarcer, but they've shared a life together, and to me that's beautiful. 

I also love the line that's repeated in the poem: 'there is nothing simpler nor more human than this'.  Before being in a relationship, I found the thought of getting to know someone, of sharing myself with someone, of overcoming all those little hurdles at the beginning so difficult and overwhelming to imagine.  One of the best things about the relationship that I'm in now, though, is that it's all so easy - I'm sure we'll have difficult times, all relationships do - but just being together seems so natural and effortless.  Simple and human.

The second poem I want to share tonight is one that always makes me smile, and I also like it because I have seen the poet's wife speak about the poet and it was so clear how much she adored him.  This is one that he wrote for her. 

Celia Celia by Adrian Mitchell

When I am sad and weary

When I think all hope has gone

When I walk along High Holborn

I think of you with nothing on.

Short and to the point!  Adrian Mitchell is brilliant in my opinion and no doubt will be making further appearances on this blog.

Happy New Year!