I write poetry to be heard—first and foremost by myself. To put into words my feelings, my vision, my inner world. To release these words, held back perhaps too long, to breathe them out, to exhale them.
I long to be read—by eyes appreciative of metaphors. And to feel moved by each joyful, mesmerizing or deeply dramatic intonation.
I need to write to express myself, to lay bare what is inside of me so that my words can radiate outward and perhaps even inspire others to unfetter their own voices.
There is in me a yearning to connect with the unseen, a driving force that guides me and allows me to share the best of who I am. Above all, I have a deep desire to draw my outpourings from the luminous, evocative power of all that can yet emerge from within me.
I want to surprise myself, astound myself, discover, delight, move, liberate, soothe, inspire, define and create myself.
To savour delight
To feel peace deep within one
It is surrender
So fertile and prolific is my language that its richness still nurtures within me an appreciation for its many subtleties.
Whether haiku, free verse or lyrical prose, my poetry embodies my vitality, my faith in these whispered parables in which I murmur prayers expressing all that my heart bears. My words are rousers of consciousness, flashes of wisdom, my answers to life’s mysteries. Like a vast mosaic with only one piece missing, poetry teaches me that my uniqueness is dependent upon it.
Frozen sap
Tiny life
And yet you live
Your colours in bloom
Bursting and falling
In you, the fruit is borne
Floral mane
Caressed by the summer breeze
In the fields you sleep
Poetry is a record of my emotions, keeping time with my inner fluctuations and even my darkest forces. It captivates my life through this primordial need that lives within me. Poetry is my quest for light and hope.
Naming the essential becomes a way of life. Calmly, I observe, draw connections, seize the light. I dwell in the present moment, cull what is real, embrace that which seeks to express itself in me. As a witness to the interconnectedness of things, I gravitate, in spite of myself, toward transcendence, verticality. I contemplate the sacred until the wonder of the words reveals itself to me. The poetic voice opens infinite doors.
On the table of my dreams
Is spread the fragment of my origin
In the hope of my awakening
A bare space guides me
Toward the symbolism of my nights
Stringing imagery together serves the ultimate goal of my creativity: to quench my thirst for the absolute. I adore the resonance, the dazzling impact, the symbolism so rich in meaning. I favour concision, unearthing the essence in few words.
Through play, we reinvent ourselves. Wordplay is an appeal for a return to spontaneity. The poet’s soul, vulnerable and genuine, is instinctively drawn into its own phantasmagoria and toward its healing, too. This playful, even cathartic, exploration leads the unconscious to craft its own well-being.My impulse to write first seeks its path through insight and sensibility in order to uncover the very essence of my understanding. Unshackled, watchful for beauty, I reflect on its vastness. For each state of mind to be transcended, transformed, sublimated, I know that poetry will always be there to guide me along the course charted by my heart. The initiatory journey of the human experience has long been quietly transforming me. Words are what remind me that I have a right to exist.
My poetry is prayer incarnate, a very personal way of expressing gratitude. In its coded language, I approach the subtleties of feeling, I expose my vulnerabilities. And I give thanks.
I’m moving in my opposing direction
The one that is proud of its contradictions
And that shapes the path of my pride
I engage in self-reflection
In a unified spiral of my universe
In my wholeness, my interiority
I collect my dreams
Left in the wake of my wanderings
To complete my work and honour the nature of time
How do you add a little poetry to your life?
Translated by Amanda Kenney, Language Portal of Canada
