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Stefano Carini's avatar

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.

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Namratha Varadharajan's avatar

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'..

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Stefano Carini's avatar

Love Emily Dickinson’s poems.

Thanks for the mighty comparison!

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Jed Moffitt's avatar

Stefano, you poet... Did you just write that in the flow of the response? It is very twisty and very true.

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Stefano Carini's avatar

Yes, Namratha is providing lots of fun ideas

:)

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Jed Moffitt's avatar

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

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Namratha Varadharajan's avatar

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.

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Jed Moffitt's avatar

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.

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Namratha Varadharajan's avatar

This is a fertile idea! Thanks for playing the game. Cheers.

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L. Cohen's avatar

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.

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Namratha Varadharajan's avatar

That's such a wonderful metaphor and so relatable. I love how 'it is slippjng through the cracks and wrinkles'...

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Sonia Dogra's avatar

Love this. And I can relate to it so much.

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Namratha Varadharajan's avatar

Enjoyed reading yours. Thanks for creating this

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Rajani Radhakrishnan's avatar

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.

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Namratha Varadharajan's avatar

Thanks Rajani. Reading your memoir in parts, here and there. Would love to resf your poem, when you write it

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Rajani Radhakrishnan's avatar

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/

:)

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Jed Moffitt's avatar

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?

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Namratha Varadharajan's avatar

So much to think about in that short piece by Ramanujan.

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Sonia Dogra's avatar

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.

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Namratha Varadharajan's avatar

Thanks Sonia. Looking forward to reading yours

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Sonia Dogra's avatar

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/

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Manisha Sahoo's avatar

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.

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Namratha Varadharajan's avatar

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

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