The Poet As Universal Messenger

By: aromaproductions on 3:12 PM

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The Poet As Universal Messenger

The Art of Poetry
To see in every day and year a symbol
of all the days of man and his years,
and convert the outrage of the years
into a music, a sound, and a symbol.

To see in death a dream, in the sunset
a golden sadness such is poetry,
humble and immortal, poetry,
returning, like dawn and the sunset.

Jorge Luis Borges

A poem has many purposes, some of which include expressing an emotion, creating a unique view of the world with the use of imagery and evoking a response in the reader. It has been described as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings (William Wordsworth), and “a way of remembering what it would impoverish us to forget (Wallace Stevens)”. A poem also communicates ideas.

I believe a poet is a cultural and social messenger. In order for a poem to reach its maximum audience, it needs to be universal. The idea conveyed should be one most people can comprehend. The reader should feel that he or she is being spoken to and that something meaningful can be taken away from it.

The poet, Jane Cooper said “Poems are moments of the most acute consciousness. Through them we recognize the now and here, and yet we enter into a dialogue with history and otherness. Poems are made in solitude, but they move toward connectedness.”

A poem should also be inclusive as opposed to being exclusive. By that, I mean poetry reading should not be confined to the domain of the intellectual; it shouldn’t be so abstract as to be impenetrable. And so universality comes once again to mind. My experience at the XX Poetry Festival in Medellin, Colombia 2010, proved that the masses can appreciate poetry. It was the first time in my life that I witnessed thousands of people, of all ages and walks of life, pack a stadium in the rain to listen to International poets share their observations of the world. Here the tradition of sharing the word with everyone was in evidence. Why can’t it be done in other places? Perhaps the closest we come to this in the Caribbean is the “Calypso Tent” where people gather to watch calypsoians compete and cling to the words they utter.

The formulation of the universal message is assisted by the elements of poetry (rhythm, meter, rhyme, alliteration, simile, metaphor theme, imagery and symbolism, etc.) which are the parts contributing to the whole success of a poem. Every poet has his own techniques. These techniques are often based on the poets’ socio-cultural background. The music of a poet’s language provides rhythm, alliteration, assonance. Culture and tradition supply imagery and symbolism. These are some of the instruments with which we communicate.

The content of a calypso, for example, is usually socio-cultural and political criticism. A message about corrupt politicians reaches an audience far beyond the Caribbean. The songs of an African griot teaches lessons for life, teaches lessons for mankind. The rhythm, rhyme, imagery and symbolisms used might be indigenous to their parts of the world, but the message is clear. We, weaned on Western culture, understand the cliche, “You are the apple of my eye.” Those of us raised in a Caribbean environment can convey the same idea with ”You are the sugar apple of my eye,” or “The dumpling in my pigeon peas soup.”

My poem “The Nation Builder” written in reaction to the treatment of non-residents in the US Virgin Islands, is universal. It draws attention to the abuse and ill-treatment of immigrants and illegal immigrants. This problem is international in scope. “Belittled by nicknames/lynched by contemptuous stares,/ condemned as job snatchers,/ pounced on by immigration,/they are herded into vans, shackled like cattle.”

On the contrary, the poem “Carnival Stray,” written in dialect, limits its audience to the Caribbean. The message however is betrayal and revenge and is universal in that the need for revenge is ingrained in the human instinct.

Broddah! Hit he in he y’eye,
hit he in he y’eye. If he y’eye bus’ up
me nar goin’ cry, me nar goin’ cry
mash he on he toes, blood up he nose
he too two-timin, ’too two-timin’
bruk up he finger
le’ de pain linger, le’ de pain linger
will serve him right, will serve him right
ah see him in de carnival dancin’ up ‘pon Rose
whinin’ on she batty, playin’ wit’ she natty
hol’in up she hip, dippin’ when she dip
he dere in he little worl’on a half pint trip.

Poems are universal when they share the inner turmoil and the observations of the world which are common to all mankind. We write about birth and death, love and war, our joys and sorrows, the impact of our daily experiences of loss, fear, alienation, nature, God, the mystery of life among other things.

Poetry should be accessible to the majority and not limited to a few. We no longer gather under a tree in the moonlight to listen to poetry, tales, songs, the chants of our roots, but we do have our rappers, our calypsoians and forums for competitions and poetry jams which share an art form that is of the people, our common experiences, and for the people.

© Althea Romeo-Mark