Your poem reminds me of the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Succinct, yet impactful. Particularly, enjoyed reading the first stanza: the fleeting light and 'all is blue'..
That's such a fun way to start a poem, Jed. 'Oh... I see'.
I think that's the reason we see so many selves. We see ourselves differently through the eyes of each relationship we have. We behave differently with different people. 'Reality is relational'! This poem really got me thinking.
Hey Namratha...thanks for the prompts and the game. It was Stefano's poem that turned my head. This idea of relational reality has really snagged my mind this week. I won't drift into quantum this and that here, but I think this is a fertile idea. Looking forward to the next one. Cheers and good Sunday.
Love what you did with that river analogy...I wrote a whole memoir but it seems daunting to write a self-portrait...I might give it a shot soon as I finish this thing I'm writing for tomorrow's post that has me frowning at the screen.
Reminding one of everyone but oneself... Hmmm... Seems to say something about the notion of self. Seeing a stranger in the shop window... What changed? What remains the same?
This is a very interesting call, Namratha. I have tried doing this more on a mental/spiritual level. A self portrait and always returned empty handed. Like I do not know myself. I am excited to try this out.
At the outset, love what you've done in the third part, moving from the more definitive to the hazy, the metaphor of the boat and river and the uncertainty aligns so much with my own thought process. As I said earlier, I don't know myself unless it would just be defining my physicality and work etc. For the rest, it's a work in progress. I'd hoped I would do better in understanding and presenting a portrait, but ended up with just this. Thanks for tickling our minds, Namratha, for nudging us on to this beautiful path.
Oh, this will be a big task, and I thought haikus had been difficult! Love how the present portion of your self-portrait is an unending flow, nothing definitive like the past and the future.
Thanks Manisha, for observing that about the present. This can be a short poem or a longer one. It can even be a haiku. Waiting to see what you come up with
About me
by Stefano Carini
A falling star
leaves fleeting light
into the sky.
It is not night, though—
and all is blue.
As water is the clouds,
rivers and oceans,
looking for me
would find, instead—
You.
Your poem reminds me of the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Succinct, yet impactful. Particularly, enjoyed reading the first stanza: the fleeting light and 'all is blue'..
Love Emily Dickinson’s poems.
Thanks for the mighty comparison!
Stefano, you poet... Did you just write that in the flow of the response? It is very twisty and very true.
Yes, Namratha is providing lots of fun ideas
:)
Oh ... I see... this is a game
I read from the inside out
And answer my way back to the question
If reality is relational
Then I only see myself
When I see you
If I look too closely at myself
I disappear
That's such a fun way to start a poem, Jed. 'Oh... I see'.
I think that's the reason we see so many selves. We see ourselves differently through the eyes of each relationship we have. We behave differently with different people. 'Reality is relational'! This poem really got me thinking.
Hey Namratha...thanks for the prompts and the game. It was Stefano's poem that turned my head. This idea of relational reality has really snagged my mind this week. I won't drift into quantum this and that here, but I think this is a fertile idea. Looking forward to the next one. Cheers and good Sunday.
This is a fertile idea! Thanks for playing the game. Cheers.
Passport photo:
As soon as they tell me not to smile
It becomes the only thing I can think about.
I try to school my features and look neutral
But the smile is escaping at the corners
And moving up to my eyes.
That radiant light that I contain
Is slipping through the cracks and wrinkles
I find that I can no longer contain it.
That's such a wonderful metaphor and so relatable. I love how 'it is slippjng through the cracks and wrinkles'...
Love this. And I can relate to it so much.
Daunting! But this is what I created: https://open.substack.com/pub/angelavanson/p/look-upon-me-with-kind-eyes?r=51dmgl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Enjoyed reading yours. Thanks for creating this
Love what you did with that river analogy...I wrote a whole memoir but it seems daunting to write a self-portrait...I might give it a shot soon as I finish this thing I'm writing for tomorrow's post that has me frowning at the screen.
Thanks Rajani. Reading your memoir in parts, here and there. Would love to resf your poem, when you write it
Here's my attempt for this week's prompt!
https://open.substack.com/pub/leesplash/p/collagevignettesnapshot-poetic-adventure?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=1ih8ew
So, I think this kind of is on prompt...though it is a bit of a ramble...
https://thotpurge.wordpress.com/2025/02/20/bridge-number-thirty-nine/
:)
Reminding one of everyone but oneself... Hmmm... Seems to say something about the notion of self. Seeing a stranger in the shop window... What changed? What remains the same?
So much to think about in that short piece by Ramanujan.
This is a very interesting call, Namratha. I have tried doing this more on a mental/spiritual level. A self portrait and always returned empty handed. Like I do not know myself. I am excited to try this out.
Thanks Sonia. Looking forward to reading yours
At the outset, love what you've done in the third part, moving from the more definitive to the hazy, the metaphor of the boat and river and the uncertainty aligns so much with my own thought process. As I said earlier, I don't know myself unless it would just be defining my physicality and work etc. For the rest, it's a work in progress. I'd hoped I would do better in understanding and presenting a portrait, but ended up with just this. Thanks for tickling our minds, Namratha, for nudging us on to this beautiful path.
https://soniadogra.com/2025/02/20/an-attempt-at-self-portrait/
Oh, this will be a big task, and I thought haikus had been difficult! Love how the present portion of your self-portrait is an unending flow, nothing definitive like the past and the future.
Thanks Manisha, for observing that about the present. This can be a short poem or a longer one. It can even be a haiku. Waiting to see what you come up with