It was interesting to observe my own choices, and those of others, when addressing different family members - at times, it felt like I was hearing a hierarchy unravel. From least to most formal, there’s ‘tu’, ‘tum’ and ‘aap’. I remember reflecting, for example, on the different ways to communicate ‘you’ in Hindi. I was, and still am, fascinated by the ability of language to shape the way we think. It took longer than I expected to adjust to thinking in Hindi, but I think that initial frustration allowed me to appreciate even more the enriching experience of perceiving the world in more than one language. As a result of the pandemic, though, it had been about four years since I’d last visited and had to converse in a language other than English. I understand Sindhi but struggle to speak it so usually rely on Hindi to communicate. I started writing it when I was in India visiting family who speak Hindi and Sindhi. Yes, I was thinking a lot about language whilst writing this poem. Were you thinking on these ideas while writing the poem? It feels enriching to have a diverse understanding of language though. This poem is devoted to exploring language, and how we might feel differently if the thing we eat is called a “papaya” or “papeeta”. ’That brief moment after ‘still’ - where we imagine a motionless bull, wonder if it’s god - is, I think, a beautiful example of the magic a line break can create. I recently re-read his poem, The Bull, and was struck by the intentionality of the enjambment, especially in the lines, Ocean Vuong in particular is a poet whose use of enjambment I really admire. I’m also often thinking about which words I want to emphasise by placing them at the end of a line - is there an image or question I want the reader to hang onto? Otherwise, is there a way I can use the line break to create surprise or double meaning? These are all ideas I’ve picked up from reading and speaking to other poets. Other times, if it suits the feeling of the poem, I might look to deliberately break the line where it feels less natural. I usually read aloud whilst writing and sometimes simply break the line where it feels most natural to pause. For me, there are a few different factors that come into play when I’m deciding line breaks. I’m wondering now which sounds and songs might later remind me of this current time in my life…but perhaps that’s a tangent for another day. Interestingly, these sonic markers of time and place weren’t something I could have predicted them becoming. Himesh Reshammiya’s song, Jhalak Dikhla Ja, to Ajmer, where my cousin once convinced me that singing it would invite ghosts. The scream of a fox, to our old home in Ilford. For me, for example, the hum of a sewing machine always carries me to my sister’s bedroom in Essex. This entry into the poem, with its use of the word ‘again’, also speaks to how familiar we can become with certain sounds and the journeys they take us on. I love that sound is an active subject here, transporting the speaker without permission. That takes me from myself Seán Hewitt, ‘Tawny Owl in Fog’ This use of sound isn’t unique to my own writing, of course a poem that springs to mind is Seán Hewitt’s Tawny Owl in Fog, which begins, I suppose I conjure sound in my writing, then, as a means of connecting to places and people, especially when I’m physically distant from them. I think this longing for sound is indicative of its ability to respond to or evoke emotion and memory, which might then evoke other senses too. I often find myself craving specific albums, voices of loved ones or sounds of objects like the ceiling fan in my poem. What a fascinating workshop! And yes, absolutely - sound and music play a huge role in my life. I think this poem does that in descriptions of feeling a finger scratching or seeing a person shuffling – there are also sounds here! Is sound and music important to you generally? I remember years ago doing a workshop with the poet, Joanna Klink, and she talked about how you can create sound in a poem through describing the other senses. In this poem, sound seems to be very important, and you evoke it directly and indirectly.
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