Letters To A Young Poet - IV

Tábua
Central Portugal
 
My dearest J,
 
Well what luck! I drove into town to the post-office where they know me well and Anna-Maria immediately dug behind the counter and pulled out another letter from you, arrived from Oporto this very morning. So now I am sitting in a bistro-cafe, newly opened by a Belgian lady who grew up here, and will write my reply in time to catch today’s post.
 
I can see that you have an unendingly vivid imagination and have set up for yourself another inner conflict. Whilst you are sitting in a comfortable library thinking about rhyming words, in other parts of the world people are starving and frantically trying to stay alive amidst falling bombs. And you feel guilty that what you are doing is being “unfair to them” and that the contrast between these two worlds is maybe “very unchristian”.
 
In other words, you are questioning the value of poetry in an unjust and politically indifferent world - and hence question the value of your own poetic desire. The essence of my two-fold answer is guided by the poet Adrian Crick.
 
First, to quote him, “If we allow ourselves to be brutalised by a brutal world, brutality wins”. This implies poetic endeavour is vital, more urgent than ever. Consider World War I poets Wilfrid Owen, Siegfried Sassoon and Robert Graves. And more recent poets - Ciarán Carson, Carol Ann Duffy, Irina Ratushinskaya.  
 
Artistic expression amidst mud, horror and injustice is one route to saving grace. This is why dividing-walls around the globe are covered in artwork and poetry. If it is possible to see the whole world in a grain of sand then it is the poet’s responsibility to express that in inspiring words. If the pomposity of politicians can be pricked by a short poetic ditty, then poets - step up. It is in the midst of the most ‘fallen’ of circumstances that the poet needs to speak most cogently, urgently and powerfully.
 
Second, poetry is a form of ‘soft power’ with huge longevity. More powerful than whole armies, a poem can change the mood of an entire nation. Long-term cultural shifts for the better can be driven by poetry. Powerful words in the hands of poets last much longer than the short-term scripted words of politicians. Though both understand the symbolic power of words (see my second letter) a poet uses words to inspire humane action from the bottom up whereas politicians use words as motivation to inhumane actions from the top down.
 
So my dearest J, there is absolutely no reason at all to feel guilty about your poetic pursuits. On the contrary, you are grounding yourself to blaze a trail into the future for the betterment of humankind - as indeed is the genuine role of any artistic endeavour.
 
I can see I’ve just got time to post this now before Anna-Maria closes up the post-office for the day. I guess the other three letters are still awaiting collection and all four will arrive more-or-less together.
 
With love and affection,  
Uncle Jocelyn.  
 
(PS: Your Aunt Veronika sends her love too)
 
 
 
#Rainer Maria Rilke