A Fistful Of Stars: ...As They Come To Me
"A poet is essentially a loner- someone who writes for himself, and to himself,'' writes Hariharan Balakrishnan in reflective mood.
Words in verse used to come to me from time to time from an early age. Often in the bathroom, sometimes elsewhere- when I am alone or in a reflective mood. They also used to vanish in time, and I was back into my humdrum life.
The chance to put them down on (metaphoric) paper came when, in 2001, I brought a computer home. Since then, such words- whenever they came, were kept in safe custody for the screen. The assurance of being able to give them an occasional polish whenever I visited any of them, was a great advantage. Indeed, it has been a luxury unimaginable in my student days in the 1960s.
I have been writing poems for the past ten years- a late bloomer who started at age 50. With some trepidation, I showed a few of these to some peers in the realm of poetry. Each of them asked me, “Why don’t you publish at least a few as a book?”.
The first eminent poet to ask this was Ramakanta Rath, and the next was Sitakant Mahapatra, before whom I consider myself a midget as a poet. Both have been kind to say what they feel about my words in my book- my first venture into the world as a poet. The “visuals” in some poems here are a spontaneous gift from the eminent Haiku poet Dr. Angelee Deodhar of Chandigarh to whom I owe a debt of gratitude.
A poet is essentially a loner- someone who writes for himself, and to himself. Sometimes he addresses the Other or the Unknown. If what he says has a universal appeal and touches a chord in the heart of the reader anywhere in this world, he has reason to feel vindicated. This has nothing to do with specific culture or the place or time in which a poem is read. If even a single thought has touched you, dear reader, I am grateful to you for having read my words in verse.
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If you wish to purchase a copy of Hariharan's wonderful book of poems please contact him by clicking on fabalas02@gmail.com
All profits from the book will be donated to the cause of educating and improving the welfare of children.
