Nandi Mukh, Christmas 2017
At the Clock Tower bathed
in sparkling consumption
shambling Krsna devotees
are today's army of salvation.
Dusk softens the air and my sadness;
even those with nowhere
to go belong.
Bland mooncalf faces reflect
the year's reward.
Huxley's prescience outsees Orwell
or, let's say, a pill for the masses
a boot for the few.
In this age of the grandchildren
we expose our necks in erotic reverie
at a refined distance from ancestors
and their robust struggles with days --
a hard life if you didn't weaken.
Of the elders' mission to purify reality,
nostalgic gruel remains.
The meaning of their life was its peril,
the seed that rots in the good black earth
to return to daylight transfigured.
We children of empty blessing
take courage, take hold of our hearts.
Posted Jan 19, 2018, 1:27 PM UTC · edited
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So I had to look up Nandi Mukh and it's a prayer to the ancestors at a Bengali wedding, right? I didn't know that at first so I interpreted "in this age of the grandchildren" to mean that an old man or woman was the narrator of this poem looking at their descendents, but by the ending stanza, it contrasts "the elder's mission" with "we children" which made me think that the narrator is young. I now think that the elders are the dead ancestors, and the grandchildren is basically anyone who is alive. But I still don't really know who the speaker is. It makes me unsure of how to read the poem. Currently, I'm reading it as if a wedding is happening, and this is someone's internal commentary of the ceremony, or perhaps it's the prayer itself.
This wedding prayer seems not at all hopeful -- the shambling devotees, the references to orwell and huxley, the bland faces, the nostalgic gruel...these are not happy images. Indeed the speaker refers to their sadness at some point. It starts with "at the Clock Tower" like this is some important place in a community, and emphasizes the idea of time passing -- mortality, or ceremony, or something. I get the impression that the narrator views modern society as weak and a declension of a better thing.
It's a bit preachy for my taste but I like the contrast of ideas. I'd like to see fewer abstract concepts and more concrete observations of what's going on. Poetry is I think tends to be a lot more effective when it stays to sensory observations rather than abstract pronouncements. The last stanza in that sense is by far the strongest, and has the most prayer-ful feel. I like the contrast of rather bleak ideas proceeding before it, but if I were you I'd season them with some more sensual metaphors rather than lit references.
What did you intend and what inspired it?
Hi, thanks a lot for the analysis. Yes, nandi mukh is a ritual celebration of ones ancestors, including but not only at a wedding. The phrase "the age of grandchildren" is taken from one of Thomas Mann's books and it means a time when we (all of us, including older people) live in the shadow of people who had a more direct and authentic connection with their culture and with their own lives, so you were spot on with that.
I was inspired by noticing the Hare Krsna people raising money at Christmas time, when a few years ago (in my country) it would have been the Salvation Army (dunno if you know them, English Christians with military uniforms who play hymns in brass bands). I think the Krsna people are great but they aren't my culture. The empty blessing is our prosperity, combined with spiritual poverty.
Regarding preachiness and abstraction vs direct experience, I take your point and most of the poetry I write is of the direct kind. But many of my favourite poets (Auden is a good example) are able to switch between the two and that is what I was trying to achieve.
To be honest I don't even think I've read Auden? Huuuuuuge gaps in my poetry knowledge. I'll give him a look. Any favorites?
Thanks for your very thoughtful reply, you've given me as a reader a lot to chew on. Cheers.
Massive gaps in my knowledge too, I've heard about a quite a few US writers through the main poetry sub that are new to me but apparently household names for some people...
I don't think Auden is that widely read these days but he's an absolute master...the one poem people might have heard nowadays is Funeral Blues, because it was in a film.
For a living poet who manages the same thing, juggling something very personal and direct with philosophical or wider ideas, I really (really!) admire Derek Mahon. Have a look at this superb poem about the "Troubles" in Northen Ireland. He can be a difficult read sometimes, I might have to read his poems over several times before I start to get it but they aren't intellectual games, something I hate in poetry. You have to read them aloud to realise how muscular his writing is too :)
These are really excellent. "The stars are not wanted now. Put out every one" is just so elegant. And that Mahon poem - ! It's really just astonishingly great.
My favorite modern poet right now is Ocean Vuong, try On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous or Aubade with Burning City, both heavy subjects from unusual perspectives and incomparable language.
I'm off to bed, but I hope to see you round again with more of your stuff. Cheers mate