a spectator gadget screensgitanjali kolanadwriting a poem requires a state of attention to the present wherever you are whatever youre doing finding beauty transcendence insight whatever you want to call it in the ordinary moments of everyday life entering into that state of awareness watching and waiting for the flash of revelation within the quotidian is where i find the healing potential of poetry covid gave me the time for poems to unfold in this organic way it feels like a gift i tried to express that in this poem when i walk the poem writes itselfin branches dipped in budsand endsthe hieroglyphs of bark on old treesundeciphered signature of shadowsthe poem writes and makes itself mine giti chandrapoetry and other art forms are invaluable in times like these in that they allow for an expression of emotions and anxieties that are often not articulable in any other form when we are confronted with events and images that we can only call unspeakable poetry gives speech to the depth and range of our emotional responses i really think that just seeing ones feelings reflected in someone elses words provides comfort knowing that someone shares your grief or fearswhat need of poetswhenthe iron hearts of crematoriumssurrenderthe poet needs must accept defeat no merebroken heart melting with pity that stillbeats in my wordless body cancompetegeethanjali rajansuffering and trauma is everywhere that is the reality of the second wave of the pandemic poetry can be a record of these times but poetry can also bring in hope and light in these dark times while it is important to see the reality around us it is possible to use poetry to mitigate mental stress trauma we have to keep hope alive as individuals and as a society it is the same case with every art form painting music dance in this case poetry has also been part of a concrete initiative like fundraising thanks to akhila ramnarayan and samarpanathe singing bowland then one day the girl with impasto dreams in her head ragam yamuna kalyani in her heart and embers of stars in her earlobes comes freshly bathed she picks up the brass bowl breathes from it and turns the mallet in rhythmic circlesa soothing songof waves on the sanddreamless sleepfirst rains a green shootfrom the split earthk srilatai find more than ever before that it is important to keep up with the practice of poetry i have found solace in writing poetry daily in recording the moment however terrible or difficult or full of sadness that moment might be i write mostly free verse but of late i have also been trying my hand at haiku a meditative form that demands a certain presence in the moment poetry offers me a way to step back from all that is going on even if only for a few stolen minutesghutansuffocationit is ghutan in the souls of old womenwho stay home and stay homeand stay homedreaming of mangoesthis season i am