I write the first sentence
and feel frightened from the soldiers of the king,
I cut the sentence.
I write the second sentence
and feel frightened from the guerilla rebels
I cut the sentence.
…
Much I have heard about judges who slay justice
I have also heard about
The custodians of religion
Who themselves slay the sacred soul of religion.
This alone had remained unheard
This too I have heard
In our times the fear stricken poets
Too have become the slayers of poetry.
— “Mr. Poet” by Surjit Patar; translated by Gurshminder Singh Jagpal
As we dedicate the third edition of Poetry India to Surjit Patar whom we lost a few months ago, we remember this poem of his. A poem like this could only be written by a Surjit Patar who never compromised with his sword that looked like a pen, who proved that political poetry could be gracefully lyrical, that protest requires firmness of spirit and (not necessarily) the loudness of voice.
Fearlessness is a prerequisite for poetry. Fear of any sort cannot produce poetry. Poetry breeds in a fearless atmosphere. But what creates the fear for a poet? The state is a source of fear. People who criticise the state are another. I have seen poets afraid of the state as also those afraid of the critics of the state. Readers are also a source of fear. I have seen poets terribly afraid of losing readership. Young poets are again a source of fear to the old poets. I have seen senior poets spending sleepless nights brooding over the possibility of losing young chyalas. All these fears make the poet cut the sentence s/he writes fearlessly. A poem castrated because of fear is not a poem. Poetry cannot breed in fear.
How can we stop slaying poetry? If only we could be afraid of ourselves, perhaps. If I fear the person who resides in me and is popularly known as conscience, I can overcome fear of all sorts. We kill that person first to kill the foetus of a poem. So, to overcome fear, we need to be true to ourselves. Being true to one’s self means being afraid of one’s conscience. This is perhaps the most important thing we should remember in a world bereft of Surjit Patar.
After a long gap, we are releasing the third edition of Poetry India. I wish you all a good read.
Angshuman Kar
Editor, Poetry India
