By Subjectivity in poetry is a uniqueness and the expression of it is a really important voice. New ideas are to be established and they break the chains of conventionality. Sayani Mukherjee’s debut poetry collection “Ode to Meraki” offers a glimpse of subjectivity. The poems in the collection are crafty and filled with comprehensible metaphors. The poems are also rich in imagery.
I write across the blank slate-
Your convention read the words,
And it’s ordered meaning. (Ennui)
Sayani’s poems have a personal touch with a flair of understanding and relation to the context. She establishes the context of her poem very well. She is also a good observer in her poems, just like the second line of the poem titled Hushed Quilts mentioned below, “and see a beanie haired girl.” “My lousy dreams” is personal and the dream is a part of observation. I liked the title of the poem where she takes an object and silences it, it resonates with the whole dream-like context of the poem. The dreams are lousy and she says she moves back from it. This movement is a dramatic quality infused in poetry because action is involved.
Night birds squeak my lousy dreams
I move back and see a beanie haired girl (Hushed Quilts)
One thing that strikes out with her creativity in the book is the alliterative titles of her poems like Tipping Tinkel, Lies and Lilies, March Musings, Scarlet Shadows, Sacred Shame.
The title poem “Ode to Meraki” in Sayani’s book is a tribute to the waning moon. Meraki is a Greek word which denotes love and passion. How passionately she observes the moon can be deciphered from the poem. I personally liked this title poem because I have also written about the setting moon in one of my poems. I have written that a setting moon is never romanticized, we generally only talk about the sun. It is relatable when you feel affection for the diminishing or waning moon and when you can personalize that. There is a reference to ‘you’ in the poem, it sounds like a reference to a beloved. When the beloved is being engulfed by something the moon is diminishing from the sky. These two events are masterfully presented closely. The transience of the waning moon raises the beats of heart and the poem comes to life. It becomes like a permanent ink scripted as a verse.
In the poem titled “Mordant Dream” poet Sayani Mukherjee asks if she is an addict who is always searching for a home. Lots of people would choose travel and the outer world, but the poet is choosing a place to belong. This aspect of her poetry reads like a comfort which an artist finds in her/his abode. This belongingness is a necessity, to find subjectivity.
All the poems are filled with subjectivity and the fresh voice of a young poet. The experiences are rich and honest. The language of the poems itself is filled with craft. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading and reviewing the book. I recommend the book to any readers who want to feel the thrill of words and understand it fully. Every reader can learn how to write beautiful images and express poetic landscapes through this collection. The poems are meaningful and they convey well.
Perhaps you knew I jumped to
Your autumn wearing
My spring dress. (Wrong key)
The above-mentioned lines take seasons as untimely interruption. These are somewhat abstract ideas. Abstraction is also subjectivity because it paints a unique way of expression. Subjectivity needs expression and while it expresses itself an abstract landscape of words gets pictured. When that abstraction is meaningful an artist emerges with a successful presentation. Art has to make meaning. The poem “Wrong Key” takes seasons as metaphors and addresses the mismatch of ideas conveyed. For a poetic mind that presentation can strike a chord. These three lines mentioned above are a perfect idea conveyed on a metaphorical plane. Different seasons have different associated meanings. Metaphors also make that meaning evident. Here, autumn has a secondary or muted meaning, whereas spring has the primary emphasis. The above lines could also mean: In a world filled with your autumn, I entered with my spring dress. It could also mean I illuminated your world. The poem can also end on a positive note.
Poetry can mean different things for varied audiences. It can have layers of comprehension and the idea that you can relate with many meanings, make it joyful. May this journey of writing poems continue, and I wish all the very best to poet Sayani Mukherjee for her bright poetic future.
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