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It’s been a LONG time. No, it’s been a REALLY LONG TIME.

But what better day to return than that which lent life to this blog originally.

Poetry is indeed a form of expression I not only appreciate and understand most, but can also express myself through best. While I admit I haven’t been writing too much since this blog was assumedly broken for a bit, I’d like to talk a little about my first exposure to poetry itself.

My dad first introduced me to poems by telling me about William Wordsworth. And one of the earliest memories I can recall of both my parents is how they still have poems memorized from when they first learned them earlier in life.

The second introduction to poetry in my life was at the end of middle school. My ninth grade teacher helped me see my own interest in it surrounding a series of projects centered on poetry and verse. We too were required to memorize a poem then: The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost.

There’s something about having poems inside you. Poetry is beyond information. Your mind memorizes it, but the rest of you feels it, knows when to apply it verbally and nonverbally. It becomes something on the opposite length of nostalgia. It can say great things about an era of time, yet it is free from time itself. It is transcendental yet concrete, soft yet invincible.

Knowing a poem by heart is more than words memorized. Poetry is alive within us in a way other words are not.

And so what I wanted was to start the month off by reciting a poem I know by heart. However, I have heard this many times in different places, but I feel the first man I heard recite it still recites it best.

The poem is Agneepath by Harivansh Rai Bachchan. It is recited by his son Amitabh Bachchan below:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3ocJDH3ygc&ab_channel=LavishSinhmar

Vriksh hon bhale Khade
Hon Ghane Hon Bade
Ek patra Chaanh bhi
Maang mat Maang mat Maang mat
Agneepath, Agneepath, Agneepath

Tu na thakega kabhi
Tu na thamega kabhi
Tu na Mudega kabhi
Kar shapath Kar shapath Kar shapath
Agneepath, Agneepath, Agneepath

Yeh mahaan drishya hai
Chal raha manushya hai
Aashru, swed, rakta se
Lathpath Lathpath Lathpath
Agneepath, Agneepath, Agneepath

Even if there be trees (around)
shady and huge,
for the shade of a single leaf
don’t ask, don’t ask, don’t ask..
(Walk on the) Path of Fire, (Walk on the) Path of Fire..

You will never stop,
You will never halt,
You will never turn,
Take this oath, take this oath, take this oath
(Walk on the) Path of Fire, (Walk on the) Path of Fire..

It’s a great scene,
The man is walking,
in tears, sweat, and blood,
soaked, swathed,
(Walk on the) Path of Fire, (Walk on the) Path of Fire..