Wayward about Poetry, Randomly.

An idiotic conversation with my best friend lead to the serious topic of poetry and its moods. We realized that it's almost always the darker topics in poetry that trap our minds. You don't get goose bumps from jovial poems about the weather no matter how beautifully they're written. Perhaps because when you're happy, there is nothing that makes you think hard. You're just in the moment enjoying what you're reading and you don't want to waste time thinking about it. If you're in a bad mood, then a happy poem may cheer you up; but it wouldn't  make you say "Whoa!"

Now on the other hand, those serious and deep topics have a fish-hook-effect on you. A dark poem forces you to sit up and listen. You either appreciate the poem for its depth or it shakes you into thinking about what the poet's talking about.

Anyone with an affinity for poetry would have been affected at some point by a hard-hitting poem. When a poem hits you- BAM- like a truck, it's not going to be because the sky is so blue or because the birds are chirping in the trees. If the poet speaks of war or suffering or sadness or deceit or even love, the poet is forcing his opinion and emotions on the reader, pulling him into a web of questioning thoughts.

But these ideas or explanations for why hard hitting poetry or even literature tends to be dark are disturbing. Why are our brains wired to be 'entertained' by crime, sinister thoughts and sadness? Why do our brains feed off it? It cannot merely be a result of desensitization of our generation for literature of this kind has existed for centuries. Does thinking hard about a topic or situation always result in crookedness? It's unsettling to think that there's a dark person hiding within each of us, that if instigated enough, that darkness shows itself. Sometimes I feel it's best to stay away from depth. There is no need to analyze everything, to look for a hidden meaning, to read between the lines. Sometimes meeting things at face value is appreciation enough. Blissful ignorance and peace of mind, perhaps?

I shall now indulge in some shameless plugging. The aforementioned best friend is a brilliant artist and as is evident from our conversation, brilliant in the head as well. This best friend has a blog of her own which you really ought to visit. Check out Mallika Bhandari at  Random Outcomes of a Deranged Mind. 


(The title to this post is an inside joke. Heeheehee.)