Tag: Formal Poetry

Freedom in Constraint Poem #10

Freedom in Constraint is a sequence of formal poems focusing on the themes of isolation and social distancing and the wider issues and challenges to community and family arising out of the current Covid 19 pandemic.

“Metaxu” is the tenth poem in the sequence and the form this time is rhyming couplets. I came across the notion of metaxu when I was reviewing a poetry collection late last year. The concept appears in a range of writings, some religious, but is probably most notably espoused by the philosopher, Simone Weil.

Considering man’s relationship with God, she writes:

” Two prisoners whose cells adjoin communicate with each other by knocking on the wall. The wall is the thing which separates them but it is also their means of communication. It is the same with us and God. Every separation is a link. “

In the same way I was struck by the way we have been living at a distance this last year and yet there is a strong sense of community, mutual support and connection.

Once again, the film was made by my good friend Pete McCluskey and he also delivers the poem with perfect pacing. The space he allows around the words here is very well controlled I think. He imposes a break before the final four couplets which adds I think to the impact of closing lines of the poem.

I thought the end of 2020 might see the end of the sequence, but I think we might continue for a little longer. It seems only fitting that we should in the circumstances.

Until the next time, enjoy the poems and stay safe!

Brian Kirk

Dublin

22nd November 2020

Acknowledgements

Freedom in Constraint is a sequence of formal poems responding to life during the Covid 19 crisis and is made with support from the Arts Council of Ireland / An Comhairle Éalíon’s Covid 19 Response Award.

Freedom in Constraint Poem #9

Freedom in Constraint is a sequence of formal poems focusing on the themes of isolation and social distancing and the wider issues and challenges to community and family arising out of the current Covid 19 pandemic.

“Letting Go” is the ninth poem in the sequence. The form this time is Ottava Rima, another Italian form, and one favoured by Dante. As we move towards winter, this poem considers the passing of the summer and the approach of autumn living with the restrictions we’ve been burdened with in this peculiar year. Autumn was always my favourite season, partly because of the colours of nature but also the sense of a settling down to winter which is peculiarly attractive for those of us who quite like staying home.

Again, the film was made by my good friend Pete McCluskey and he also delivers the poem with perfect pacing. The chosen sound track plays an important role here in its repetitive simplicity and also its insistence which brings a sense of lingering menace

We’re getting near the end of the year now and also the end of the sequence. Still a few more to do, so back to work soon. Until the next time, enjoy the poems and stay safe!

Brian Kirk

Dublin

22nd November 2020

Acknowledgements

Freedom in Constraint is a sequence of formal poems responding to life during the Covid 19 crisis and is made with support from the Arts Council of Ireland / An Comhairle Éalíon’s Covid 19 Response Award.

Freedom in Constraint Poem #4

Freedom in Constraint is a sequence of formal poems focusing on the themes of isolation and social distancing and the wider issues and challenges to community and family arising out of the current Covid 19 pandemic.

“Staying Home” is the fourth poem in the sequence. This villanelle was written in the first month of lockdown and was published online at pendemic.ie. The film was made by my friend Peter McCluskey and he also reads the poem in this case, bringing his vocal skills to bear with remarkable effect I think.

Next week I hope to try another poetic form as we move through the sequence. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy. Stay safe!

Brian Kirk,

Dublin

23rd July 2020

Acknowledgements

Freedom in Constraint is a sequence of formal poems responding to life during the Covid 19 crisis and is made with support from the Arts Council of Ireland / An Comhairle Éalíon’s Covid 19 Response Award.

Freedom in Constraint poem #3

Freedom in Constraint is a sequence of formal poems focusing on the themes of isolation and social distancing and the wider issues and challenges to community and family arising out of the current Covid 19 pandemic.

“Sea Dream” is the third poem in the sequence and again my daughter Martha has made a short film to accompany it. In the early part of lockdown the restrictions on travel made it impossible to drive to the sea or beach. I know it’s a small deprivation in the scheme of things, but somehow it was acutely felt.

Next week we’ll move away from the sonnet form and try something different. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy. Stay safe!

Brian Kirk,

Dublin

14th June 2020

Acknowledgements

Freedom in Constraint is a sequence of formal poems responding to life during the Covid 19 crisis and is made with support from the Arts Council of Ireland / An Comhairle Éalíon’s Covid 19 Response Award.

Freedom in Constraint

Freedom in Constraint is a sequence of formal poems focusing on the themes of isolation and social distancing and the wider issues and challenges to community and family arising out of the current Covid 19 pandemic. The requirement to socially isolate is a particularly measured response to the threat of the spread of the virus taken by Government. It does not feel normal or natural for us as social beings to be removed from those we love. Writing poetry in itself could be considered to be an unnatural way of responding to the challenges of life in general. Lyric poetry in particular, in its employment of heightened language, its use of imagination, its brevity and concision, can be seen as an attempt to map the individual experience of the poet onto the general consciousness. If successful, such poetry can console, encourage, empower and provoke questions. The employment of rhyme and metre can be seen as further evidence of poetry’s artifice. But is artifice a bad thing in itself? Every art created, high and low, from opera to popular song, uses just such techniques and we have no problem accepting and enjoying them.

In this peculiar and uncertain time there has developed a paradoxical sense of community among people who at the same time are living at a distance from each other. I have attempted to create poems which are formally constrained and which reflect the current restrictions, and which, at the same time, reach out to others in order to act as a curative to those who crave structure in these problematic times. This strikes me as an appropriate artistic response in a time of crisis. I hope I have succeeded.

The first poem in the sequence is a sonnet New Day. My daughter Martha has made a short film to accompany the poem which you can view below.

I intend to upload new poems every week or so until I reach the end of the sequence. I hope you enjoy them. Stay safe!

Brian Kirk,

Dublin

June 2020

Acknowledgements

Freedom in Constraint is a sequence of formal poems responding to life during the Covid 19 crisis and is made with support from the Arts Council of Ireland / An Comhairle Éalíon’s Covid 19 Response Award.