Have you ever felt the urge to write a letter to someone you love, conveying your feelings in words? This act can be considered as a form of poetry. This “love” that many experience has the power to create new poets, as it inspires them to articulate their thoughts and emotions through written expression.
Love can be depicted in many ways. For a poet, love is shown on a piece of paper that contains hundreds to thousands of words, describing what they feel like in every moment. With the usage of language and complex ideas, their love used various forms such as poems, sonnets, prose, and many more.
In Jasmines In Her Hair, Kalpesh Desai compiles his romantic poems to share what love looks, feels, and sounds in the mind of a poet. He plays with words to convey his message in written form. Here are some lines from the book that show what love does to a poet.
“The change of seasons,
beckon the close of a chapter”
There are four seasons that come every year—spring, summer, fall, and winter. As the seasons change, so may our experience in love. In a poet’s mind, this cycle of change has beauty, reflecting both what has come and what is yet to come.
The metaphor of seasons refers to how love evolves and transforms over time. Just like a natural season that arrives and departs, seasons bring about transitions in love.
Spring represents the blossoming of love, full of excitement and hope. Summer brings the warmth and closeness of a peak of love. Fall marks the maturity in love, undergoing challenges and hardships, and winter refers to the renewal, which might come to an end of the relationship.
“I did not ask, and she did not say.
And thus, that unread book was cast away.”
In a relationship, the lack of communication is one of the reasons why love falls apart. Regrets arise in one’s mind because of not taking action. One chose to wait and one did not take the initiative. In the end, what was meant to be discussed never came up in the conversation.
The unread book symbolizes what was never understood or realized. Much like a book that remains unopened and fails to share a story, the unspoken words and unaddressed issues leave the relationship incomplete. The “unread book” is a reminder of missed chances and possibilities that were lost because of insufficient communication.
“And though
we are separated by seas,
our hearts are enjoined, like glue.”
Even in unexpected situations, a relationship may be tested by various challenges. One such challenge is physical distance. Despite this separation, a deep emotional bond can endure and last strong.
The “seas”, which can be literal or metaphorical, stand for the barriers that test a relationship. In this poem, even with the distance, the connection between hearts remains closely linked and inseparable. This link reflects the continuous emotional attachment, demonstrating that love can thrive through trials. The strength in a relationship is unwavering regardless of the physical or metaphorical distance that may come between them.
Love through a poet’s mind is multifaceted. To express love indeed needs their words. This is where poets can allow their messages to lay bare, be read, and be felt by others, especially by someone they love.
Poets delve into artistic expression by using language in creative and innovative ways. Just like other people tell stories through paintings, music, and dancing, poets use words to narrate their love stories. For poets, to love is to craft their language with care, properly conveying their deepest emotions and exploring dimensions of love that might otherwise be overlooked. Their work reveals an act of vulnerability, transforming their personal experiences into art.