FOREFRONT POETRY COMPETITION WINNERS
“LISTEN! LANGUAGE IS OLDER THAN WORDS!”
Image credit: SARA KAUTEN on Unsplash
Forefront Charity announced the winners of their first ever-poetry competition under the theme of Empowerment. The competion is part of Forefront’s efforts to support their work in rural India to fund basic life necessities through the four pillars of water and sanitation, education, medical care, and empowerment.
Rachana Shah’s poem My wealth, my words was awarded first place. Taylor Kowalski (pen name: Taylor Rae) and Tirumala Syamala Gangula came second and third for their poems Functionally nonverbal and I set out in the day, respectively.
FIRST PRIZE: MY WEALTH, MY WORDS
Rachana Shah.
By RACHANA SHAH
There are no cords tied around my wrists
even so, why do I feel so constrained
to open my palms, my heart, and let it flow
after all, we come from abundance
and to abundance we will go
Why does the shadow of having survived
with nothing,
still hold me back at the cuff
making incessant assumptions and calculations
if there is enough – if there will be enough
As I rummage into my pockets
to share,
loose threads of shame still prick at the seam
born from the look of unmistakable pity
as they handed aid, devoid of dignity
Kindred souls held my hand
and filled it with the inspiration to create
my wealth – my words
that hold the power of a prayer
infused with dignity and faith
I pray you discover your power,
your gifts,
and live with your head held high –
I pray my words empower your journey
I pray you reach for the sky
My wealth, my words
About Rachana Shah: “My interpretation of life manifests from the name that was given to me at birth – Rachana, which means Creation in Hindi and Sanskrit.” says Rachana Shah. “I am a qualified Company Secretary (ICSI) with a degree in Commerce and Law. When I’m not working, I write poetry or indulge in other creative arts, especially painting and music. I have recently found an expression in digital artworks, which I find very fascinating. I have had the good fortune of living through myriad and contrasting conditions, which has brought with it the gift of gratitude and perspective in my life. Most of my writing is an expression of reflective insights gained through my interactions with the world and the inner self.
SECOND PRIZE: FUNCTIONALLY NONVERBAL
Taylor Kowalski.
By TAYLOR KOWALSKI
functionally nonverbal
the forest speaks
in the scars and spools
bound beneath every barkskin,
the only heart in the world
that can be cut open and read
the stars speak
in concatenated waves,
carrying every atom from
the rivermouth of the universe
like fish in a cosmic current
the city speaks
in a roll of barbed wire,
spikes of sound broken
by long stretches
of metal silence
the married speak
in the same wordless
way the sun and moon
have agreed to share a sky
as narrow as a single lifetime
our children speak –
especially those who
do not speak at all –
in secret gardens tilled
by the question why
listen
language is older than words
it is the shared space between
you and I, two continents joined
by an ocean of infinite meaning,
but our raft is scrappy and strong
we make it across, one wave at a time
About Taylor Kowalski: Taylor describes herself as “a mountain troll who’s now trying out city living”. She holds her undergrad degrees in psychology and English literature from the University of Idaho. Her work has appeared in the Upon a Twice Time anthology, Hexagon, Write Ahead/The Future Looms, and Flash Fiction Online. She “can be found in most caves” or at www.mostlytaylor.com.
THIRD PRIZE: I SET OUT IN THE DAY
Tirumala Syamala Gangula.
By TIRUMALA SYAMALA GANGULA
I set out in the day and till the lands of other
under the heat, to fight world’s hunger.
Pots with traces of my every finger
know that my hands became thinner.
I know life’s every bitter flavour
and how it feels to be a slave of a grand gambler.
So, in hope that somethings may not take forever,
at night I worship my hands of honest labour.
What sets me apart from my neighbour
is not pain I endure but my will to empower.
Cause if not to bridge the gaps in the world,
what’s the point of life in aiming higher!
About Tirumala Syamala Gangula: Syamala is an IT professional from India who loves to write poetry and has a knack for photography. She describes herself as insightful, genuinely warm and intuitively devoted to depth. “I love to nurture strong and meaningful relations with people, enjoy thinking about the meaning of life and feel an intrinsic drive to make the world a better place bound by peace and filled with love.” She is on Instagram as @emotionallystoic
THE JUDGES
Dr Vicki Bismilla and Ramesh Prabhu judged the entires.
Dr Vicki Bismilla is a retired Superintendent of Schools and retired college Vice-President, Academic, and Chief Learning Officer. She has authored two books. In her professional and personal life, she has worked tirelessly to empower youth, specially women, and is a great proponent of the Lift-as-you-climb philosophy. A long-time Desi News columnist, she was inducted into the Scarborough Walk of Fame in 2011 for her work as an academic and for being a role model for others in the community.
Ramesh Prabhu is a veteran journalist with many years of experience in leading newspapers in India and the Middle East. He taught journalism and writing skills to Master’s students at the Commits School of Journalism in Bengaluru before retiring recently. He now freelances as a copy editor and editor on contract. He has also mentored youth while volunteering at not-for-profits.
Dr Bismilla described Rachana Shah’s poem as an intellectual, emotional and sensory journey toward freedom both literally and figuratively.
“The poet tells of someone who has come out of bondage, a refugee, a slave, a migrant, someone who has endured the extreme hardship of flight and poverty. She expresses the need to leave behind that struggle and not be cowered by it. The picture of “cords tied around my wrists” viscerally jars the reader’s mind and shocks the heart. Even though the actual opening says, “There are no cords,” the mind leaps to the time that there might have been. The colour palette created is one of shadows, faded shades where even the cuff of the shirt is worn out, ragged, hooked by the threads of poverty. The “rummaging in the pockets,” hampered by the reality of poverty tugs at the reader’s heart as “loose threads of shame still prick at the seam born from the look of unmistakable pity as they handed aid, devoid of dignity.” The gratitude felt toward, “kindred souls [who] held my hand and filled it with the inspiration to create my wealth – my words,” is a profound tribute to those who inspired the poet to discover the gift of words, to their inspiration, mentorship, support and encouragement. Feelings waver from soulful, searching doubt to cautious optimism that gradually blooms into the pride of offering empowerment through the gift of words.”
In Functionally nonverbal, Taylor Kowalski looks at the silent messages encapsulated in the trees and stars, but also in human-made conditions like marriage, cities and families, and the key question is “why?”, noted Dr Bismilla.
“The question can only be answered by the power of language, verbal and non-verbal, that has the possibility to connect us. Taylor’s use of space between words, between lines, between stanzas is deliberate and significant as in, “it is the shared space between/ you and I, two continents joined/” implying that people are joined by language and its “infinite meaning.” The tone is challenging, forthright yet gentle, creating a texture that the reader can virtually touch and recoil in pain seeing the city bound ‘in a roll of barbed wire,’ its voice pleading in ‘spikes of sound broken by long stretches of metal silence’. The quiet shared space of marriage is aligned with the silent agreement between sun and moon to share the sky, wordless, compatible. The image of the secret garden of babies who do not yet have words, being tilled by the question why is evocative in its preciseness.
“An emotionally charged poem, that quietly urges us to listen, to look deeper, to look beyond mere words, to look at language both spoken and unuttered, language that is rich and unconstrained by boundaries.
“I set out in the day describes the toil of tilling the land for the ‘other’. The determination is to continue regardless of the physical pain with the goal to address world hunger. The words belie a bitterness under the surface, even at the Almighty, as in, ‘So, in the hope that something may not take forever, at night I worship my hands of honest labour’. Intellectually, the reader rummages through the words searching for answers. What toil? Is the tilling of the land figurative? Does it represent all the forms of abuse of labourers? The prayer is offered to what higher power? The Almighty? Is the ‘grand gambler’ the corporate world or the ruthless landowners, or the creator of this world of inequities, of abject poverty for some and obscene wealth for soulless others?
“These poets have a lot to offer the world of literature and holding such a poetry event is an insightful undertaking by Forefront,” Dr Bismilla concluded.