Illusions are a part of our lives...

[krishna_lit]

ILLUSIONS:

They exist in the hidden beauties of the present moments.
They appear so soothing and fascinating that we give them anything they ask for.
They make us go any far and at any cost to get a grip on them.
They drive us to thirst and then cast us into a desert.


Does an illusion makes us happy in life or us being happy in life is an illusion?
Does the reality of our hearts fear those illusions and hides away from them?
Are we afraid of the illusions or are we addicted to them?
Are illusions a mystery or are they a blind fold on our eyes?


An illusion is only a thing that can fill a void heart with vacuum.
An illusion is only a truth that you can never prove.
The image you see in mirror is not an illusion,
But what you see in the eyes of others always is.


Nonetheless, I’m used to them all,
Because, Illusions are a part of our lives.

By: Krishna Kanth(Me)

[DocHeart]

Oh God...

[krishna_lit]

Oh God...

What does that expression mean, you liked the above lines or you hated them? I would just like to know...

[hillwalker]

I'm guessing it's not an expression of appreciation.

This 'poem' (?) is really nothing more than a list of fuzzy generalisations - like something written by a 1960's guru. You don't say anything new - and a lot of what you say is so muddled that it's almost nonsensical. What does line 2 mean? '...we give them anything they ask for'???

The only blessing is that you didn't try to write this in rhyme.

H

[krishna_lit]

I'm guessing it's not an expression of appreciation.

This 'poem' (?) is really nothing more than a list of fuzzy generalisations - like something written by a 1960's guru. You don't say anything new - and a lot of what you say is so muddled that it's almost nonsensical. What does line 2 mean? '...we give them anything they ask for'???

The only blessing is that you didn't try to write this in rhyme.

H

yeah those lines are not a poem at all... i just wrote them as some non-related sentences basing on some incidents of life... and the line 2 "...we give them anything they ask for" means we believe in how illusions appear, meaning believing in their falsity and we lose lot of important things in life going after those illusions.. That is what I wanted to tell from that sentence... but now it appears to me that none got it :P

[hillwalker]

Perhaps a better phrase you could have used was 'we give in to them'.

H

[Delta40]

Without referring to this particular poem (the author could be from anywhere and live in an east end flat for all I know) May I ask, do the norms of poetry change from one culture to another? it seems to me anything not anglo sounding gets a real bagging around here and I'm prompted to ask this question. The British are such bad tourists so can we really expect them to be any better when critiquing international poetry?

[miyako73]

Nice one, Delta.

Indian epic poems are wordy and prosy. Their psycho-philosophical poems sound like a college lecture. A poem in Vedic tradition is a repository of knowledge. Poets in ancient India were saints and sages.

[krishna_lit]

Nice one, Delta.

Indian epic poems are wordy and prosy. Their psycho-philosophical poems sound like a college lecture. A poem in Vedic tradition is a repository of knowledge. Poets in ancient India were saints and sages.

That's right, I'm from INDIA, but ain't no saint or sage at all :P I'm a 22 year old guy.... I didn't write this as a poem either, i just wrote it as some random thoughts on some incidents that happen in life, in which we believe so truly with all our heart until we realize what it's gonna cost us in our lives....

Thanks for the reviews all of you... will help me work better next time :)

[miyako73]

That's right, I'm from INDIA, but ain't no saint or sage at all :P I'm a 22 year old guy.... I didn't write this as a poem either, i just wrote it as some random thoughts on some incidents that happen in life, in which we believe so truly with all our heart until we realize what it's gonna cost us in our lives....

Thanks for the reviews all of you... will help me work better next time :)

I don't know how to respond without putting you down. Of course you're neither a saint nor a sage. What I meant was how ancient Indian sages and saints used poetry as repositories of their knowledge and ideas.

[krishna_lit]

I don't know how to respond without putting you down. Of course you're neither a saint nor a sage. What I meant was how ancient Indian sages and saints used poetry as repositories of their knowledge and ideas.

No no you didn't put me down. I'm learning to write all sorts of stuff... so what ever people say will only better me and will never put me down. And, yeah you're right about ancient Indian sages...

[hillwalker]

Without referring to this particular poem (the author could be from anywhere and live in an east end flat for all I know) May I ask, do the norms of poetry change from one culture to another? it seems to me anything not anglo sounding gets a real bagging around here and I'm prompted to ask this question. The British are such bad tourists so can we really expect them to be any better when critiquing international poetry?

Ouch! I'm aware that many non-British writers post their work on here - but the majority of the ones I've had contact with have studied the classics of English literature and they're trying to emulate the writers they admire (or the ones they were taught to admire) rather than share the poetic styles of their own culture. They often come on here to discover whether or not they have reached the perceived 'high levels' of classic poetry in their own work... and 90% of the time they don't because they are stuck in a time warp of colonial British education where books like 'Wren and Martin's English Grammar' are the bible of what constitutes proper writing.

Someone (I can't remember who) famously said that the last surviving person who can speak correct English will be an Indian.

H

[Hawkman]

What stikes me about this piece is that it appears to be an unholy fusion of dialectic reasoning and sophist rhetoric, which would have Socrates and Plato spinning in their graves. Is it a poem though? I'm inclined to think not; it's too prosaic.

Live and be well - H

[Delta40]

but the majority of the ones I've had contact with have studied the classics of English literature and they're trying to emulate the writers they admire H

That's a fair statement. But what about the ones who are not trying to emulate the English classics?

[hillwalker]

That's a fair statement. But what about the ones who are not trying to emulate the English classics?

I'll admit that I assume the rest of them are on here trying to write contemporary poetry like many of us. Why would they choose to write classic Vedic or Sanskrit poetry in the English language on an English Literary forum? They're unlikely to get much meaningful feedback - and that's no reflection on Indian literature. I guess few if any of us would be able to offer them advice or critical feedback.

H

[Delta40]

I'll admit that I assume the rest of them are on here trying to write contemporary poetry like many of us. Why would they choose to write classic Vedic or Sanskrit poetry in the English language on an English Literary forum? They're unlikely to get much meaningful feedback - and that's no reflection on Indian literature. I guess few if any of us would be able to offer them advice or critical feedback.

H

Then I guess it's fair to say where we are unsure whether typical norms apply, not to apply them when critiquing and to consider broadening our own horizons! I know you've offered Indian as an example but it is possible that many non-english speaking countries could fall into this category.

[DocHeart]

Without referring to this particular poem (the author could be from anywhere and live in an east end flat for all I know) May I ask, do the norms of poetry change from one culture to another? it seems to me anything not anglo sounding gets a real bagging around here and I'm prompted to ask this question. The British are such bad tourists so can we really expect them to be any better when critiquing international poetry?

An interesting concept here.

"Anglo-sounding": How is a poem written or translated into English anything but Anglo-sounding?

Kavafy has been translated from Greek into English. The translator (usually an accomplished poet himself / herself) takes care to allow the non-Greek reader to experience a world that was originally intended for native speakers of Greek. Part of his / her job is to make whatever cultural adjustments are necessary without spoiling a poem's rhyming scheme, pace, rhythm and stylistic devices. The result is something the English speaker can appreciate. Is Kavafy "Anglo-sounding"?

As for the British being bad tourists -- I don't know. If you're referring to the yobs who drink 35 pints of lager in one sitting before collapsing on the pavement, I've met several Germans, Americans, Spaniards, Italians, Greeks, Australians and Canadians who do exactly the same thing. On the other hand, the British families that visit the Acropolis are extremely well-read and seem to understand the monument much better than most Greeks do. They're also very polite, coming second only to the Americans in this category. This from a guy who spent a good deal of his youth working for the Greek tourist industry (long before it folded like a defective ironing board, of course, along with the rest of this country).

Best,
DH

[hillwalker]

Then I guess it's fair to say where we are unsure whether typical norms apply, not to apply them when critiquing and to consider broadening our own horizons! I know you've offered Indian as an example but it is possible that many non-english speaking countries could fall into this category.

So if an OP's name sounds foreign we should treat anything they write with kid gloves - or offer no critique since our 'horizons' aren't broad enough. That sounds like reverse racism to me.