The times of quoting poetry to each other seem like a nostalgic thing of past for humankind. Today, it often feels like reading, analysing and writing poetry is only a prospect of educational institutions, and a chosen hobby for a select lot.
However poetry as a primary artform was a widespread practice across the ancient world till the times of the industrial revolution when poetry began to be used as a tool of political critique. Indeed during the writing of The Values Compass I found poetry central to the values of countries, including Nicaragua – a land that lives, breathes and expresses its identity through poetry. In Nicaragua there are more poets per capita than anywhere else in the world!
The awareness that poetic expression can be a powerful device of catharsis and positive mental health is not hidden from most of us. Yet bringing it into practice appears to be a distant dream.
It is the initiative of new age poets to bring poetry back into the mainstream that makes this dream achievable.
A Piece of Peace by Deven Ahire
Deven Ahire is one such poet who has unlocked the healing properties of poetry and is demonstrating it out to the world through an audio-visual medium. Hailing originally from central India, London resident Deven has been a published poet since the age of 15. It is only after a 11-year-long affair with poetry that he felt urged to shift formats from page to screen upon noticing that most eyes in this age are locked onto screens.
After achieving a Master’s Degree in Filmmaking in London, Deven is set out on a path to create video poetry and posting it up on mass audio-visual consumption platforms like YouTube and Instagram. His first and recent creation is a poem film titled ‘A Piece of Peace’ which he has written, performed, directed and edited:
A Piece of Peace – Mental Health Poetry by Deven (filmpoetry.org)
‘A Piece of Peace’ is a delicately structured poem speaking about the very relatable human condition of feeling emotions like unease, anxiety, depression and overwhelm. Worded in a lucid form, Deven’s poetry and its presentation in this audio visual is a prime example of how the foregone glory of poetry can be restored.
Encouraging the reader to question their feelings
Deven’s poem analyses the poet’s feelings as it proceeds from verse to verse and weaves it into tasteful imagery. It is a self-exploration experiment conducted by the poet in the format of the written word. The poem ends with a question, symbolic of how the poet himself is not done questioning his emotions, proving mental health is a continuous process.
The fact that the poem ends in a question is also urging the audience to question their own feelings, their own emotions, furthermore proving how crucial this artform can be if used in the way that poet Deven Ahire does through his work.
There is hope of a larger group of poets growing into a popular wave of video poetry to the level of being appreciated widespread by populations who consider poetry a forlorn art. With a distinguished identity away from song and hip-hop, spoken word in the form of a film could become a new wave revolutionising how poetry is viewed.
Making the world a better place
Not only is poetry as an audio-visual art an innovative measure, discussing mental health through this attention-worthy artform is ingenious. Ultimately empathy is a soothing ointment for us humans. When we feel heard, feel seen, feel understood, it plants a new will and fresh hope for what’s to come.
When we feel we are not alone in our predicaments, we feel supported and part of something higher, greater, something worth being a part of. That is essentially what Deven’s work ‘A Piece of Peace’ does.
It won’t be a stretch to say that in the near future if audio-visual content similar to Deven’s poem film is created more and consumed more, the popularizing of poetic expression for catharsis is inevitable; and this shall only make the world a better place.
Safe channeling of negative emotions in a creative manner can prove to have a positive impact and if more of us found outpour of such emotions in the written word, a grand step shall be taken towards better mental health and creative health.