“For every poet it is always morning in the world. History a forgotten, insomniac night; History and elemental awe are always our early beginning, because the fate of poetry is to fall in love with the world, in spite of History.”
Derek Walcott
A poet lives “ . . . in the beginning.”
His or her craft is the art of returning to the first day of creation. Every poem is an attempt to begin again, to obliterate history so experience can burst forth into a fresh occurrence. The poet has the audacity to say things believing they have never been said before. Poetry rejuvenates an instance of yesterday so that it begins again as an integral part of today’s experience. Poetry is not reminiscence. It is not a mental recollection of a past event as great an accomplishment as that is. A poem is an event, a happening. A poet recreates the event using the power of sensual and sensible language. A poem is a form of theater the purpose of which is to invite the reader/hearer into the drama. The poet sets the stage and suggests the action. The play is truly playful. The reader is trusted to play in the text and arrive at an interpretation that fulfills the text.
In everyday speech I hear people say in reference to an unusual incident, “There’s a first time for everything.” For the poet, every time is the first time and every experience is primal. It is easy to develop a prejudicial and often jaundiced view of the world. But as Wolcott tells us, the purpose of poetry is to ‘fall in love with the world in spite of history’.
The Zen Buddhist saying, ‘Zen mind, Beginner’s mind’ could be said of the poet’s mind as well. But not only poet as a writer of poems, but anyone who approaches life poetically, that is,
anyone who lives receptively and perceptively,
anyone who invites the full blast of experience,
anyone who sees the clear distinctions and profound connectedness of all things.