Poem Review: ‘Little Things’
The little child inside me wishes to jump out — hop from my mind and be himself. He wants to look and appreciate the little things, yearning for simplicity in this make-do sophisticated lives of adults. I remember the poem by Cecil Frances Alexander, that brings out quest for simplicity and enjoying little things so well.
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.
The poem goes on describing how beautiful those little things are. So what is so special about little things?
“Dust is the parent of a star!”
― Munia Khan
Little things, enjoyed, done or dealt with, bring action, outcome, accomplishment, and joy. These little things make us see life in proportion that we can consume and respond. Savor and enjoy. Dream and do. It is the little acorn that creates a forest. It is the little match that sparks the forest fire. It is the dust that makes the star.
The poems penned by poets Shwetahitesh and Deepshikha Shekhawat , that we are going to savor today bring out the same essence of simplicity and the joy of little things in their own inimitable style.
Poem 1: ‘Perhaps’
Perhaps
Happiness has a seraphic connection
With the soul
And we didn’t know yet
Perhaps, what we are chasing is transient
And what we needed was always present
Little did we pause to notice
The tweets of the birds
And buzz of the bees
The dew on the twigs
Perhaps, we slipped, the shiver of the flower
And the heedless laughter of the river
It was always where it now is
Perhaps we never met the happy-within
Commentary on Poem 1:
‘Perhaps’ is a poignant poem that brings out the simple things we miss. The poet’s lovely articulation of poignancy by the use of the word ‘perhaps’ hangs on through the poem. ‘Perhaps’, according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary means ‘used to express uncertainty or possibility’. I can always feel a sigh behind the word, especially when I read this poem.
Perhaps
Happiness has a seraphic connection
With the soul
Have you noticed when you buy toys for your kid or your pet, they ignore and go for the old cardboard box or broken utensil? Have you notice how they derive joy out of those little things? The instant connection of happiness with simple things is because ‘perhaps’, there is a ‘seraphic connection to the soul’.
Our soul is our eternal identity. It is the naked representation of each human. To make a connection with the soul, the feeling should be authentic, without any decoration. Happiness is one such feeling. If that is the case, perhaps, it is easy for us to understand that the child or the pet identifies a simple thing as its source of joy. Such a feeling is pure, simple and authentic. Hence, the ‘seraphic connection to the soul’.
And we didn’t know yet
Perhaps, what we are chasing is transient
And what we needed was always present
It is fact. Many among us don’t understand that ‘happiness’ is not a derivative of things that we chase — ‘What we are chasing in transient’. Transience is both illusionary and beautiful. What are we chasing? We are chasing happiness. Happiness is a state of mind, they say. If we think we are happy because we have attend something, then such a joy is transient.
So where do we find happiness? The poet is leading us, but not sure, with a qualifying ‘perhaps’. Let us follow her lead. ‘ What we needed was always present’ — the ‘happiness’ was always around. Around? Present? Where? Why can’t we see? ‘We didn’t know yet’ — Ah! So it is a treasure hunt then. Is the poet messing with us?
Little did we pause to notice
The tweets of the birds
And buzz of the bees
The dew on the twigs
We did not search enough. What was the need to get frantic? What is the rush for? Have we noticed, when we are driving, we cannot see the things that whizz past you, like the trees? Our eyes are on the road, we may argue. But if life was a journey and you were the driver, then you are on the fast lane. Too fast that we don’t watch the journey, but keep our eyes on some materialistic destination. ‘Little did we pause to notice’, answers the poet. We can see the ‘simple things’ only when we take a pause. Take it all in, slow down.
What are we missing in the journey of life? Simple things. They are the ‘tweets of the birds’, the ‘buzz of the bees’ and ‘dew of the twigs’. Such things, simple yet magical, are out there. All we had to do was to pause to savor.
Perhaps, we slipped, the shiver of the flower
And the heedless laughter of the river
If we pause long enough, ‘perhaps’, ‘perhaps’, we can enjoy ‘the shiver of the flower’ and ‘the heedless laughter of the river’. But we did not. Note the poignancy that seeps out of the word ‘perhaps’ here.
“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”
― W.B. Yeats
A life, slow and slow enough, to search and savor, reflect and wonder brings more peace and happiness, from the little things around us. We are the ones that need to grow.
It was always where it now is
Perhaps we never met the happy-within
The little things are the objects that make us happy. But where and when happiness happen?
‘It was always where it now is’ — the answer is ‘now’. Happiness is experienced now. Once we open your mind and slow down, we will see the simple things, and feel happiness. We don’t need to wait or search your memories. It is there for us to pick and feel right now.
So where does happiness happen? ‘We never met the happy-within’, says the poet. Happiness is within us.
The tone of this review is present and hopeful, while the poet has kept it the poignancy through. The difference is deliberate, yet the reader shall note that in the regrets lie the lessons. The poet is always right.
Poem 2: ‘Little Boy Tim’
The last evening I met this little boy,
Playing by himself with enormous joy.
His eyes were bright and blue,
Like a sapphire shining in the oceans of glue.
It seems, his playmates were pebbles and greens,
Hopping in the mud puddle wearing torn jeans.
I walk towards the garden to play with him,
He greeted me with a sweet smile, I nicknamed him Tim.
He narrated the tales of spirits to me
While swinging down on the hanging tree.
Tim gets so much fun out of plants, puppies, and butterflies,
To my every question he always had in hand replies.
We ran to his house to take the bicycles out,
I kept listening while riding, to what he was talking about.
He shared his passion for becoming a chef,Got inspiration from his uncle Jeff.
George and Richard are his brothers,
They all love the festival of colors.
He loves going out to the market with his dad,
His favorite snacks are brownies and cheese bread.
He then pleasingly asked me to be his mate,
I accepted his proposal without any wait.
We stopped near a pond and relaxed there for a while,
We both cheered up to the beautiful evening with a smile.“It was all ended so happily,
awaiting to meet the little boy Tim eagerly!”
Commentary on Poem 2:
This poem by poet Deepshikha Shekhawat is about a little girl meeting the little boy, who enjoyed the little things, and then becoming happy friends with him. The poem is narrated in first person as a tale of simple things, written in rhymes.
Can a little boy find happiness in little things? Let us explore.
The last evening I met this little boy,
Playing by himself with enormous joy.
His eyes were bright and blue,
Like a sapphire shining in the oceans of glue.
The story is young. Last evening, our narrator (little girl) met this boy. The boy is happy, ‘playing by himself with enormous joy’. The opening is alluring. The boy was ‘happy’ — ‘happy within’. It is the seraphic connection that we saw in the earlier poem.
“fall
in love
with your solitude”
― Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey
The boy is happy within loves his own company. And that’s showing. His eyes are ‘bright and blue’ — that the color choice is reflective than deliberate, and the inherent message is the happiness within. The blue eyes, now is also considered figuratively like ‘the shining sapphire’.
It seems, his playmates were pebbles and greens,
Hopping in the mud puddle wearing torn jeans.
I walk towards the garden to play with him,
He greeted me with a sweet smile, I nicknamed him Tim.
As he plays with himself alone, his friends are ‘pebbles and greens’. It goes back to our original idea of intrinsic happiness. Pebbles and green are found out there, and the little boy knows how to relate to those simple things joy.
In this stanza, our girl connects with the boy. She is welcomed with a ‘sweet smile’. The intrinsic happiness radiates as a smile. The happy, solitary boy gets a name — Tim. A sweet little imagination by the poet.
He narrated the tales of spirits to me
While swinging down on the hanging tree.
Tim gets so much fun out of plants, puppies, and butterflies,
To my every question he always had in hand replies.
We ran to his house to take the bicycles out,
I kept listening while riding, to what he was talking about.
Tim ( now that we have a name) is an adventurous boy. We can picture him in a garden and a neighborhood. I am sure that Tim and the poet don’t belong to this gadget era. A beautiful friendship develops.
‘Little things’ again come to the fore. The poet in this stanza, brings us further into what we may have just gone past, and yet don’t want to let go. Our childhood.
“Everything is ceremony in the wild garden of childhood.”
― Pablo Neruda
Tim ‘swings down on the hanging tree’ and he ‘gets so much fun out of plants, puppies and butterflies’. The active boy blends with nature and draws out fun. His childhood is what we all have heard and yearn for. A sunny neighborhood. Butterflies and puppies. Plants and trees. And the whole day in front of us, a children. Sigh. Those days!
The poet also moves the story forward. Tim and the poet, now friends, are in chatty mode. Tim narrates ‘tales of spirits’, he has ‘in hand replies’ for her questions. As they go on a bicycle ride together, she is ‘listening to what he is talking about’. We can picture that the poet is a listener and Tim, witty and wise friend. Conversations strengthen friendship, especially in childhood. Tales, curious questions and know-it-all answers, the children’s friendship emerges as a world of its own.
He shared his passion for becoming a chef,
Got inspiration from his uncle Jeff.
George and Richard are his brothers,
They all love the festival of colors.
He loves going out to the market with his dad,
His favorite snacks are brownies and cheese bread.
The beautiful conversation grows. Tim shares his identity and life with our girl. He talks about his siblings, uncles and dad. They all love colors. He talks about his visit to the market and the food he likes.
“We’re all stories, in the end.”
― Steven Moffat
Most conversation about people start with their stories. Stories are those little things that trigger memories to the narrator and moments to the listener. Tim’s story enthralls our girl.
He then pleasingly asked me to be his mate,
I accepted his proposal without any wait.
We stopped near a pond and relaxed there for a while,
We both cheered up to the beautiful evening with a smile.
Finally, Tim asks our girl to be his ‘mate’, ‘pleasingly’. Again, a little gesture and tone. The enthralled narrator jumps at it — without any wait.’ A friendship that is built on little things, she must be feeling. His love with little things, his intrinsic happiness, his stories and his pleasing gesture — all make him a person to be with.
“I think you’re a fairy tale. I think you’re magical, and brave, and exquisite. And I hope you’ll let me be in your story.”
― Laini Taylor, Strange the Dreamer
That’s how our narrator girl must be feeling. ‘Let me be part of your fairy tale’. They enjoy the evening together near a pond.
The poem brings out how little things bring happiness and friendship, and how little children build their lives around them. A fresh feel to my reviews.
Those Little Things:
Don’t we all long for happiness? Our happiness as children has been robbed by adulthood and its fallacies. The truth is that in children, the happiness is pure and simple. That is why little things give them pleasure and happiness.
“Children are the closest we have to wisdom, and they become adults the moment that final drop of everything mysterious is strained from them.”
― Simon Van Booy, Love Begins in Winter: Five Stories
That, my friend, is what I call wisdom. Wisdom lies in being simple. The poet brings out timeless wisdom through bring out how children, happiness and little things are so interconnected. No amount of adulthood can undo this wisdom. For it is the adults who fight wars, and it is the children who love — love simple things.
“and when all the wars are over, a butterfly will still be beautiful.”
― Ruskin Bond, Scenes from a Writer’s Life
~Ashok Subramanian
PS: Some quick updates. Shwetahitesh is working on publishing her first collection, and I happen to be the co-poet.
Introducing Deepshikha Shekhawat through this review.
All copyrights and quotes in italics belong to the poet. Copyrights attributed and acknowledged.
