Come closer
Come into this
Come closer
What beautiful battlefields you are
You are quite the beauty
If no one has ever told you that before, know that right now
You are quite the beauty
There is joy in how your mouth dances with your teeth
Your smile is simply a sign of how sacred your life actually is
So step into it
Come closer
Know that whatever God prays to
He asked of it to make something of worth
He woke from His dreams
Scraped soil from the spaces stuck somewhere inside Himself
He made you
He made you and He was happy
You make the world happy
Come into this
Come closer
Know that something softer than us but just as holy
Planted pieces of himself into our feet
That we might one day dance our way back
Know that you are almost home
Come, just a little bit closer
There are birds beating their wings beneath your breastplates
Gentle sparrows that ache to sing
Come aching hearts
Come soldiers of joy
Doormen of truth
Know that my heart was too big for my body
So, I let it go
And most days this world has thinned me
To the point where I’m just another cloud
Forgetting another flock of swans
But believe me when I tell you
That my soul has managed to squeeze itself
Into such narrow spaces
Place your hand beneath your head when you sleep tonight
And perhaps you will find it there
Making beauty as we sleep
As we dream
As we turn over
When we turn over in the ground
May the ghosts that we have asked answers of
Do that turning
Kneading us into crumbs of light
And into this thing love thing called life
Come into it
Come, you wooden museums
Gentle tigers, little giants
I see teacups upside down glowing across your grins
Your hearts are like my hands
Somedays all they do is tremble
I am like you
I too at times am filled with so much fear
But like a hallway, must find the strength to walk through it
Walk through this with me
Through this church of blood, bone and muscle that is our lives
There’s a doorknob glowing like chance before you
Grab it, turn and pull, swing
Step through
Back straight, chin up, eyes open, hearts loud
Walk through this with me
– Anis Mojgani
Welcome to Blue Parchment!
I thought I’d kick things off by sharing one of my favourite poems. This poem was read at the opening of ‘Heavy And Light’, a place where poets and their poems meet and exchange ideas. I thought it was fitting for this to be the poem that welcomes us all to this space.
Hope you guys like it too. Share your thoughts, comments and writings!
Excellent share Arnab.I am sure the poem has a deeper meaning than it reads maybe you can shed some light
ReplyDeleteI heard this poem back in 2013, and it's one of those few things that have stuck around since. For me, it's always been a poem of welcoming, maybe because of the context in which I heard it the first time, and even now I can interpret it mainly in that light.
DeleteFor starters (and now that I think of it, I should have included this in the original post), do give the poem a listen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJxsTq0ReKM. See if that resonates as much for you as it does for me.
The poem is about welcoming and acceptance. It says not just to come in, but to draw in closer. It talks about getting nearer at more than just a physical level - to 'come into this', or let it wash over you and become a part of you. In spite of the many scars that you have - the 'beautiful battlefields you are' - we are still beautiful. Every part of our existence is in rhythm, hence the 'mouth dances with your teeth' and our 'smile is a sign of how sacred life' is.
And our closeness goes beyond just with God, but even to 'whatever God prays to.' He wished us into existence, and we were 'something of worth', something so important and holy that He 'woke from His dreams' and used parts of Himself - 'Scraped soil from the spaces' - to make you. And that gave Him joy, which in turn made the world happy.
Sure, we were sent out into this world, but we also had pieces of him planted in our feet so that we may one day 'dance our way back', and we aren't too far from home.
As writers and poets, we have our words that are stuck like 'birds beating their wings' that are 'ach[ing] to sing.' We are the 'aching hearts', the 'soldiers of joy', the 'doormen of truth' - and all this because we dare to write and share our thoughts and opinions with the world, in whatever form they may take. We're not the only ones to be overwhelmed by this. Anis feels the same way too, feels somedays that his 'heart was too big', too full of emotion to pour it out, so he lets it go. Then there's the misguided world that has 'thinned' Anis to the point where even a flock of swans flying through a cloud is enough to disperse it. Yet, in spite of this, his soul manages to survive by 'squeez[ing] itself into such narrow spaces.'
He asks us to place '[our] hand beneath your head' and maybe, if we're lucky, we'll be able to feel our soul working on our dreams. When we turn over - in bed, or in our graves - may it be the 'ghosts' or 'spirits', the one we direct our prayers to, do that turning for us. May that entity '[knead] us into crumbs of light' so that we understand our place in this life.
We are vulnerable and fragile. We are as valuable as a museum, yet can burn up just as easily as firewood. We can be ferocious as tigers, but choose to be gentle. We have the potential to be giants on whose shoulders future generations will stand, but are stuck in little bodies. Our grins manage to hide the sadness - 'teacups upside down' - and our hearts tremble, as do his hands, thinking about what we have still to do, how much more there is to be written.
Poets are not alone in their inhibitions. All writers feel 'so much fear', but it's important to know that we must persevere. It may take every last ounce of courage that our 'blood, bone and muscle that is our lives' can muster, but it's a walk that we must embark. Because right now, right in front of us, is the chance to write. All we have to do is 'Grab it, turn and pull, swing, step through'. Overcome the fear. Back straight, chin up, eyes open, hearts loud.
We are in this together.
I hope that helped. Apologies again for how long this comment went on for. Like I said, it's a poem rather dear to me, so I tend to go on and on about it at times.
Cheers!
The video completely transformed the poem for me and of course your explanation.My initial interpretation was shallow.As an aspiring writer
Deletethe 'birds beating their wings..' part resonated.
'What beautiful battlefields' those words will stay with me for a long time:))