"A Writer's Prayer" is an English poem by the Indian poet and renowned spiritual healer
Tarun Cherian
Tarun Cherian is an Indian poet. For his poem ''A Writer's Prayer'', he won the Second Prize in the ''All India Poetry Competition'' in 1990 organized by The Poetry Society (India) in collaboration with British Council.
Biography
Tarun Cherian o ...
. Cherian has had written many a poems beforehand with this one being his best work. ''A Writers Prayer'' won Second Prize in the Fifth All India Poetry Competition conducted by
The Poetry Society (India)
The Poetry Society (India) was formed in July 1984 at New Delhi as a voluntary association to promote Indian poetry and to look after the interests of Indian Poets. The founding members included the Indian poets Keshav Malik, J P Das, H K Kaul ...
in 1993. The poem was his first major award-winning work. This poem was written by him in tribute to his wife Celia Cherian. Tarun eventually went on to make a mark in
mysticism
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...
,
spirituality and
visual art
The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile ar ...
.
Excerpts from the Poem
Let my words have an unvarnished feel to them. Truth writ in the grain. Sentences that feel like bark and offer comfort like a bench after a long walk into the hills with a woman.
*******
Let my words have the clearness of a stream - the seeing pebbles look. The kind through which you reach and pick a water smooth pebble. Or better still cupped in both hands, its icy coolness splashed on a sweaty face and arms dewed with a laughing run up a summery slope.
********
Let my words sound like a lullaby, rocking my child in its syllables rippling like gentle waves in an ocean with no shores.
Structure of the poem
The poem has a unique and original structure, which marks a departure from contemporary Indian poetry. Its five lines can be regarded as five stanzas or five paragraphs. The diction is that of prose, but the strong evocative imagery belongs to poetry of the highest quality. The five stanzas evoke images pertaining to five different sense organs – sight, smell, touch, hearing and smell. The poem can be thought of a bouquet of meditations on different paths to Truth.
Comments and criticism
The poem has received positive reviews since its first publication in 1994 in the book ''Voices of the Future''. The poem has been frequently quoted in scholarly analysis of contemporary
Indian English poetry
Indian English poetry is the oldest form of Indian English literature. Indian poets writing in English have succeeded to nativize or indianize English in order to reveal typical Indian situations. Henry Louis Vivian Derozio is considered the first ...
.
See also
*
The Poetry Society (India)
The Poetry Society (India) was formed in July 1984 at New Delhi as a voluntary association to promote Indian poetry and to look after the interests of Indian Poets. The founding members included the Indian poets Keshav Malik, J P Das, H K Kaul ...
*
Tarun Cherian
Notes
{{reflist
External links
Fifth National Poetry Competition 1988 – Award WinnersPoems by Tarun CherianA Writer's Prayer – the full textBiography of Tarun Cherian"Best Indian Poems"
Indian poems