A Poem is a Pause in Philosophy

Dear fellow lover of poetry,

This is the second round-up post on the theme of poems, but it would make me happy if you thought of it as a letter. I’d love to sit down, dip a pen in an inkpot, push the world far away, and write to you, unfettered. There is an undeniable charm about handwritten letters – from the sheet of paper that you can hold and fold and read over and over again to the joy that rests in the knowledge that someone, somewhere, is thinking of you.

A letter has a lot to offer. But its offerings come at a cost.

It demands that you slow down.

As a citizen of an age where births are live-streamed and the lines between the real and unreal have blurred, a handwritten letter seems like a relic of the past. In today’s world, to slow down is to sin—blasphemy against a god called capitalism. 15-second reels, an endless barrage of tweets, words dished out by AI—the chant is loud and clear: faster, faster, faster.

And in this madness of this rush, a handwritten letter, much like a poem, is an invitation to pause.

A poem is a plea to set aside the worries of the world and to feel before you think. The meaning is usually hidden somewhere deeper, wrapped beneath the words and the rhythm. A poem will not reveal itself unless you sit down to unravel it.

A few years back, I used to run an Instagram poetry account along with my friend, and it fascinated me to find so many people penning down such beautiful verses, despite the demands of their busy lives. Instagram is famed (and even mocked) for having birthed the genre of insta-poetry, another reflection of our days parched of time. Yet, even in the midst of these two-line anecdotes, one could still find poems that slipped out through the pages. Sonnets, ballads, and endless songs. A rebellion against the fast-paced world.

Today, when I sit down to read the brilliant poems written by the poets here on Os.me, it makes me smile, knowing that with each poem we put out for the world to read, we continue our little acts of rebellion.

So here are some poems published in the month of January. I hope you find the time to unravel them:

Mundaness by Taahira Om captures the confusion and despondency that come along with the clamour of city life, especially for those seeking more peaceful shores. The poem made me think about how we can build our own places of refuge amidst the noise, a difficult task but worthwhile nonetheless.
In this beautiful poem, Neelam Om speaks of love. The kind of love that flows effortlessly for it is divine in its truest essence. A poem to make your heart smile!

“But, to my surprise /I flow, I flow to you”
The experience of devotion is one of Tears and Smiles and Sadhvi Nishtha Om brings it alive in this sweet poem, brimming with love and surrender. A joy to read!
I am sure I have said this before, but I will say it again. One of the greatest joys of life is stumbling upon something beautiful and sharing it with others. Riya Om does just that in her post Let’s Paint where she shares a beautiful poem from the book “Unposted Letters” by Mahatria (ah, letters!).

And before I bid you farewell for this month, I’ll leave you with this poem by the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke. I have been meaning to read more of Rilke’s works, but of the few poems I have read, each one has left me with a feeling of awe. This one is no different.

“Understand, I’ll slip quietly

away from the noisy crowd

when I see the pale

stars rising, blooming, over the oaks.

I’ll pursue solitary pathways

through the pale twilit meadows,

with only this one dream:

You come too.”

That’s all for this month! I hope you find the time to slow down and I hope a few poems find their way to your heart.

Yours Poetically,

Kavana

Poem