I like people who move through life on their own terms who laugh at the world and still stay themselves. Nasruddin Khoja, also called Nasruddin Hojja or Johar, is one of those people who inspired me. His stories, his humor, and his way of being completely himself effortlessly made me stop and think. I clicked with him because he moves freely, teaches without preaching, and protects his sense of self while making the world smile.
This is what I want my work to do. My poetry is like that. It is funny, light, independent, and full of quiet wisdom. It does not lecture. It shows, it surprises, it makes you see things differently, and it might even make you laugh at yourself along the way. That is how art can be free. That is how it can teach without trying too hard.
Media is just another way to do the same thing. Stories, videos, performances, platforms, I use them to share ideas and emotions that stick but without forcing anyone to follow. I want people to notice, to pause, to smile, to think, and maybe even to move a little differently afterward. It is subtle, playful, and honest. It is about freedom.
The donkey on my logo is a little tribute to all of this. Calm, unhurried, sovereign. It moves at its own pace not because it cannot rush but because it will not be rushed. What looks stubborn is really independence. It carries weight without drama and walks forward without bending to anyone’s expectations. Like Nasruddin, like my work, it teaches quietly and moves freely.
This is Jestora. My poetry and media promise to be thoughtful without being stiff, joyful without being shallow, and clever without being showy. It is an invitation to experience life differently, to breathe, to move at your own pace, and to see the beauty of being free. Relaxed. Sovereign. Untouchable.
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Identity matters. Most people have their identity defined by the external world. They take it seriously. It’s life or death for them and there is no humour, honesty or even a playful attitude about such a topic. In this blog post I will discuss how I found my own pen/artistic name and how this identity has an affect on my art and life at large.
Foundations
In a previous post, (you can find below this section) I discuss how play and joy were the foundation of my art. Once I realised this, I discovered that what I was really looking for in my poetry was to take this idea further.
I wanted my art to represent a playground. I wanted my life to represent this too. Upon realising this, I discovered that we are constrained by identity and I certainly was. I was taking abstractions connected to my own identity too seriously and I knew that Jestora was my way out.
Purpose of My Poetry
Jestora represents a playground and a beautiful space where we can explore our creative energies, ideas, insights and intuitive insights. My mission is to bring poetry, ideas and energy to life and to create a playground where people can explore, play and be inspired.
My vision is a world where curiosity, play and creativity transforms everyday life into a living playground for everyone. To return briefly to the foundations, my values are:
Play
Curiosity
Creativity
Courage
Connection
I propose a different view to the poetry community. Whereas poetry is seen as a serious topic, I aim to make life playful, poetic and full of wonder. I am to use my art to create an experience you can feel, laugh with and step into.
Unlike traditional poetry or intellectual spaces, I create a living world and a playground for people to explore, play and be inspired.
This unique aspect is why the tagline for my brand is ‘off-script’.
Why my poetry will make the world a better place?
All religions discuss why the world is an illusion and something not to take too seriously, for good reason. It’s usually the most serious people who end up causing the most disaster and trauma to the world. The people who take their identity too seriously that they become fanatical.
Its their way or the high way and being so convinced, they assume (even logically) that the next step is for them to gain power and force others to follow them. People fight for land, nationalism and their interpretation of faith. In the name of the sacred they break the sacred.
It reminds me of a quote from the film the kingdom of heaven:
“Holiness is in right action, and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves, and goodness. What God desires is here [points to head] and here [points to heart] and what you decide to do every day will make you a good man…or not.”
My poetry creates a space, a playground so that human beings can get away from the savage battlefield. Jestora from the words (Jest and Aura) is the man who does this. An identity, yes but one that anyone can become. One that I am now.
– Jestora
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By mysticism, I mean having an intuitive grasp of what life is truly about. I mean seeing, with suddenness, the facts that surround us. The word mysticism is a loaded word which I find unfortunate but I believe many people have an experience where they suddenly see things for what they are and not what they want them to be. They realise that they are connected to the outer world (not in the sense that they are one with it) but in the sense that they are a link in a chain that has existed thousands of years prior and will exists centuries after. This is a liberating feeling.
2. Practice
The path to mystical insight begins with the annihilation of the self. When the ego dissolves, one connects with the ultimate reality and naturally turns toward it in devotion. You taste the will of reality and rest content in it, like a flower fully opened to the sun.
This state emerges through deep contemplation of reality. True contemplation is not limited to formal meditation; it can unfold even as you work, as long as your attention penetrates the present moment. It is this sustained, mindful observation of life that awakens the mystical state.
Life’s difficulties naturally accelerate this process. Struggle erodes the ego, forcing humility and surrender. Those who face hardship with awareness often find themselves closer to the mystical experience than those untouched by challenge.
3. Experience
When one enters this state, the world reveals itself anew. Everything fascinates you, and you develop a profound desire to observe, understand, and worship the ultimate reality in all its manifestations.
This observation is peaceful and appreciative. You begin to love the world — not sentimentally, but because all creation is part of what shaped you. You recognize the sacredness of the Now, the eternal presence in which all things exist.
4. Philosophical Considerations
Can mystical knowledge be trusted?
Yes. Mystical insight is a valid form of understanding the human experience. It is not merely subjective; across cultures and ages, mystics have documented remarkably consistent experiences. The creative mystic, having transcended rigid identity, is often less prone to bias when observing others.
Furthermore, having such an experience makes you more creative. You are able to think outside the box, reflect deeply, contemplate deeply, analyse details longer and negate your ego so you can be a better imaginative mind. Such an experience heightens your attitude, increases your enthusiasm and drive thereby making you a better student.
Relationship to reason:
Reason is part of creation — it belongs to the mind and the intellect. Mystical insight does not compete with reason; it transcends yet complements it. One does not need to measure mystical knowledge against intellect, as they operate on different planes. The mystical insight improves reason the way a healthy body improves a healthy mind.
The ego problem:
The ego is not an enemy. It is part of who we are, and through mystical experience, it naturally transforms. There is no need to exaggerate or resist this process; it unfolds as life itself unfolds. Having positive pride in yourself is good, it is arrogance which is bad. Having confidence and excitement is good it is thinking you know everything, being fanatical and narrow minded which is wrong.
Universality:
All mystics touch the same ultimate reality. Some lose themselves in conceptual frameworks, sectarian views, or struggles to explain what they experience. Yet beneath all differences lies the same direct encounter with the source of existence. The mystical experience is like the body, so the minds of the mystics throughout time are different and therefore they would explain this experience differently.
5. Conclusion
Mysticism is a journey of direct encounter, deep contemplation, self-surrender, and worship of the ultimate reality. Life’s difficulties, far from being obstacles, are teachers that erode the ego and bring us closer to the divine source. Through awareness, observation, and appreciation of the present, one discovers a world filled with fascination, love, truth, and devotion.
To be a mystic is not to escape life, but to see life in its fullness — to open like a flower, entirely to the light of reality, and see with true rationality, the full facts that surround us.
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There was a moment that changed everything for me. I was moved by Rumi’s poetry, and in that instant I realized that poetry has the power to move us in ways nothing else can. Words on a page could touch the heart, lift the spirit, and open a door to meaning. That was the spark that set me on the path I walk now.
Before poetry entered my life, the world felt lonely and cold. I looked out and saw life as a war, a series of conflicts to survive. Every day felt like a battle, and even the quiet moments were heavy with the sense that something was missing. There was no colour in the way I experienced the world, only shades of gray.
When I began to write, the challenges came quickly. The first was vulnerability. As a man, I felt the weight of showing my emotions in front of others, of standing on a stage and opening my heart with confidence. It felt like walking unarmoured into a battlefield. Yet, I learned to embrace that vulnerability, to see it as strength rather than weakness. The second challenge was finding my voice. For years, I searched, unsure of what kind of poet I was meant to be. But eventually, after persistence and self-discovery, I found my voice. Once I did, it was as if the words finally belonged to me.
Over time, I learned that poetry is not a struggle between intuition and intellect, heart and mind. It is a process, a dance between the two. I listen to my heart and intuition, for they tell me how I feel about my experience in the world. Then I turn to my intellect and mind, using them to craft these feelings into powerful, well-formed art. The two are not enemies. They are partners, and when they work together, they create something genius.
Through poetry, I have become more than what I was. I learned lessons about media and communication theories, about presenting, writing, and design. I discovered skills I never knew I had, and more than that, I began to see the world differently. What was once colorless has now come alive. The world is no longer daunting; it is alive with possibilities, alive with stories, alive with meaning. Even when I face difficult emotions, I know I can transform them into verse, shaping them into something beautiful.
This is what I hope my readers carry with them after encountering my poems. Whether it is the creative form I chose, the ideas I explored, or the emotions and experiences I tried to capture, I want my words to stay with them. I want them to leave my poetry with something they did not have before, something that lingers and shapes the way they see the world.
Conclusion
I began as a poet of the heart, giving voice to emotion. Then I became a thinking poet, marveling at the mind’s many powers, its ability to reason, discern, imagine, judge, plan, and create. I came to see the intellect as a divine gift, capable of ordering the turbulent inner world and guiding action in reality.
Yet the mind alone is like a faithful servant locked in a specific arena, confined to its own domain. Only the prophetic light that touches the heart acts as the key, unlocking the cage, allowing the intellect to grow wings, and lifting it to a higher level where knowledge becomes clarity, insight becomes guidance, and understanding becomes life itself.
My poetry now stands at this meeting point, the disciplined mind touched by the heart of light, where thought is elevated, vision expanded, and the soul guided. Reason is awakened and set free, rising beyond its former limits. This is a new chapter.
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Many people assume that mystical experience exists in tension with reason or that the ego is an obstacle to connecting with ultimate reality. From my experience, this is not the case. Mysticism, reason, and the ego are not enemies — they are different channels through which the same reality can be understood and expressed.
1. Mystical Insight as Direct Experience
At its core, the mystical experience is about connecting with the ultimate reality — the truth that underlies all existence. When the self is temporarily dissolved, when the ego loosens its grip, we become like a flower fully opened: receptive, aware, and at peace. This is not merely a mental exercise; it is a lived experience of reality itself. In these states, we perceive life clearly, with awe and love for the world around us.
2. Reason as a Part of Creation
Reason is a tool, a part of the created world, and a reflection of the soul’s intellect. It is not opposed to mystical insight — it complements it. While mystical experience reveals the immediacy of existence, reason allows us to understand, articulate, and navigate the patterns we observe. Far from clashing, reason can deepen mystical understanding by helping us process insights and share them in meaningful ways.
3. The Ego and Its Natural Transformation
The ego is often misunderstood as a barrier, but it is simply a part of our human identity. Mystical experience does not destroy the ego violently; it transforms it naturally. Life’s struggles, joys, and challenges erode the ego’s rigidity, preparing the mind for deeper insight. In fact, those who struggle most intensely are often closest to mystical realization because difficulty dissolves the false sense of self, leaving a purer vessel for connection with ultimate reality.
4. Universality of the Experience
All mystics touch the same underlying reality, even if their interpretations differ. Some get caught in abstract reasoning, others in ego-driven concerns or rigid doctrines. Yet the essential truth remains: mystical insight, reason, and ego are all threads in the same tapestry. Understanding this allows us to see life with clarity, compassion, and awe.
5. Living the Integration
In practice, embracing this integration means living thoughtfully while remaining open. We reason to navigate the world and make sense of experience. We honor the ego as a necessary guide. And we cultivate mystical awareness through contemplation, meditation, and openness to life’s unfolding. Together, they create a holistic approach to being — one that is simultaneously rational, grounded, and deeply connected to the divine presence in all things.
Mysticism is not a rejection of intellect or identity; it is the fullest expression of both. When we see reason and ego not as adversaries but as allies in the journey, we realize there is no true clash — only harmony waiting to be experienced.
Conclusion
A famous philosopher once said that “mysticism is the recognition of the pure fact,” because “the pure fact is mystery.” Thats why I believe that mystical experience isn’t anti-rationalism. It’s an experience where an individual accepts the world as it is.
With an open spirit and see things in a different lens. It’s the mark of a unique and enlightened mind that has been illuminated. Such a person is naturally at peace and is a positive force in the world. The mystical vision becomes a way of seeing patterns and higher order. The mystic is then the ultimate thinker.
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The path of love is very interesting and as of yet it seems to be the most influential thought on my poetry. I first began my journey at the period when I began connecting with poetry when I listened to some of Rumi’s poems. Back then, however, I didn’t understand what he meant by love.
I remember listening to a line where he said ‘love is the astrolabe of Gods mysteries’ and immediately I thought what you’re probably thinking now, what on earth is an astrolabe? What is this way that he is describing love? What is love according to Rumi. Hence began a 2 year journey studying this concept.
A few years and a bunch of books, lectures and correspondence with Rumi experts like Dr Omid Safi later, I discovered that Rumi (and the Islamic Sufi scholarly tradition which has built up in the persian speaking world) views love as an attribute of God. A cosmic force that is spread out in the world and the aim of these people was to connect with this force that acts as a transformative purifying process in peoples lives.
Its a force that connects you with God, helps you establish justice on the earth and a force that ‘leads people home’ as Dr Omid Safi would say. A force that takes you back to God. I was struck by this unique but popular tradition which I had absolutely no idea about coming from the UK from a Somali background.
It was only during my time in the Netherlands, where I met so many different communities across the world where I stumbled across this well thought out tradition. I had a game-mentality towards the world. My mind was influenced by materialism and (until now in the UK) I noticed that people in the western world, particularly the UK, judge themselves based on their outward external successes. This was all set to change because of the mystics.
My Thoughts
This tradition has certainly shifted my perspective and the way that I look at the world around me. I’m still new to studying the works of the Islamic mystical poets but it is certainly very interesting. I had what I would describe as a mystical experience. I felt this feeling, the best way to describe it would be to say that in one moment I felt the total harmony of my life with the world around me.
Emotionally I felt like my heart was opening up and this was helped by the beauty of the Netherlands and having a side job as a delivery driver in a country where you could bike around on designated bike lanes and enjoy the view of the nature. I had this incredible appreciation for life and my intuitive powers were heightened. These feelings have remained.
Thereafter I turned inwards and after a few years I discovered who I was although for a long time the inward journey was painful. After sometime I understood myself, why I did previous actions, what led me here and how I began to forgive myself as well for my mistakes.
The path of love, as explained by the Persian mystics was appealing because they spoke of such experiences which I was undergoing. They discussed the realities of the world and they stressed the importance of loving other human beings. At this period I first came across humanism as well.
This had a profound effect on the way I viewed power structures in society. In the way I viewed people and power. I realized that I needed to become more human which was what the mystics said but it was something I was unaware of. There is so much dehumanizing going on around the world and it was something I was used to.
I even dehumanized myself. There was a period where I thought (and many young men must think the same) that my worth came from my results. That I had to be perfectly strong and successful for my parents, siblings, friends and the community. There was no room for vulnerability of weakness. Its no wonder why I ended up getting burnt out when I was younger.
For a while I rejected this thought. I would say for two reasons, one because it was unlike anything I have ever read before so it challenged my paradigm and two because I believed that in life I must be strategic and rational. Once I realized that these poets displayed intellectual sophistication and were extremely creative I realized that I couldn’t put them in a wrong box.
They were intellectual poets and thought leaders. The world would be a better place if it is led by love. The best leaders are leaders who are compassionate and justice in society is the most loving thing someone could do. The military generals/politicians I had read about until then were ruthless and disconnected from their human side.
I agreed with them from a intellectual level. As a poet I admired the beauty they created in their verses and it touched me. They displayed knowledge, precision, skill and sophistication. I ended up looking up to them. Unity, spirituality, justice, mercy were all things the world needed.
So after realizing I was on board from an intellectual level I thought about how I felt regarding them. Deep down, my intuition felt positively about them. Now intuition is complex but for a million different reasons I knew why they were correct and my intuition calculated it quickly and that’s why I was so drawn to them. From an emotional angle, I was connected with them as the beautiful verses of love rippled through my heart.
From a strategic angle, being a poet of love is also the ‘right chess move’ in the external world. We are all sick and tired of egos, individualism and this society that worships the self. We are tired of the unsophisticated debates that we see on TikTok about gender and race. The people want to see beauty, compassion and love emanating or coming in the form of a poet. I know this in my bones. So as a poet, the path of love is the path to take.
To connect with people, organizations and the world from this clear paradise. This strategic heaven where the world makes sense, where my thoughts are clear and where my intuitive powers are active. Thank you for reading this blog post.
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We live in a dual world. There are so many opportunities, yet so much misery across the globe. There’s so much to be grateful for, and at the same time, so much to be sad about. Somehow, everything feels like it’s changing, and the past seemed easier.
This is a dual world. There has been so much improvement in our personal journeys, yet there is still such a long way to go. We often feel invisible, yet there is so much connectivity through social media. We have gained so much knowledge about history and oppression, yet there is still so much division.
We live in a time of great technological advancement, yet there is an increasing sense of disconnection from reality. Our lives are more convenient than ever, yet we struggle with anxiety and depression at unprecedented levels. We have access to endless information, yet it often leaves us feeling more confused than informed. There is a surge in self-expression, yet many feel more misunderstood and isolated.
We have become more environmentally conscious, yet our consumption habits are driving us closer to ecological disaster. We demand transparency from those in power, yet misinformation spreads faster than ever before. There is a growing recognition of mental health, yet stigma and barriers to care persist. We cherish individuality, yet often conform to societal expectations. We celebrate diversity, yet prejudice and discrimination still thrive.
There is so much glorification of romance, yet so many gender wars. There are so many more educated people, yet so many more arguments. There are so many calls for peace, yet so much war in the world. There is so much awareness of our identity, yet so many feelings of not belonging. There is so much talk of religion, yet so few spiritual people. There is so much focus on “me and you,” yet so little on “us.”
There are so many more jobs, yet it is so difficult to acquire wealth. There is so much more discussion about emotional intelligence, yet so much more silent heartbreak. I’m tired of all this duality; I’m tired of this period. I think we secretly wish to be younger, not because of youth, but because we were blissfully unaware of this harsh, relentless world.
~ muaad
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Stuck and in a slump. That’s how I found myself for the few months before I was able to overcome writers block. What is writers block? Its usually only ever seen as a period where you have run out of ideas or when writers are empty. Often times writers take forever to return or worse, spend their time writing things which aren’t authentic.
I had writers block after I completed my internship. At the time I was figuiring out how I would market my brand but my actual writing slowed down. It wasn’t that I wasn’t publishing poems (I was) it was just that it wasn’t at the speed and rate that I was doing it previously.
My life as a poet slowed down. I was writing less and I wasn’t living as a poet. I was troubled by what was going on in the world and my mind began to process what happened to me in the past. For some reason I spent a lot of time listening to my ego.
I was more interested in external events in the world rather than on how I felt inside. That stopped me from writing. These processes were happening within me too quickly and I stayed like this for many many months. Perhaps 5 months. Or more.
Eventually I missed my old life as a poet. My life from last year. I realised that a writers block was precisely that, a block but an internal block. I realised that the reason why it happened was because I finally hit a crossroad. An internal crossroad. Was I willing to change based on all the lessons I learnt, the experiences I had (as an international student studying abroad) the poetry I read or was I going to try and remain nostalgic by clinging onto who I was in the past.
I decided to change. I looked within and realised that I felt peace and calm.I was no longer broken, angry, confused or sad. I was wiser. I had just turned 24 and I felt like a man. I understood the world around me – at least a heck of a lot better than I did at 18.
I looked within and I saw that I most wanted was to love myself now. You can’t love others if you can’t love yourself and you certainly can’t love and change the world. I was confused with my own thought patterns. I wanted love and yet I wasn’t giving myself permission to love myself. Strange.
After I did that I purchased things I’ve liked since I was a kid like new hats, bottles and beach sandles. Somehow, I understood the mystical poetry of the poets I read a year prior. I understood that poetry is when the soul is dancing. Poets were dancers in their own way. Soul dancers.
This time when I read them, I understood each line. I was no longer rushing through lines I slowed down and nejoyed each word. I was moving camly and slowy. At night, my own soul began dancing and I began outpouring my words.
I had gotten over my writers block. I was a poet once again. This time, changed forever.
~ muaad
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Recently I have embarked on a new journey within my poetry. My poems have grown now from being just displays of self-expression to becoming tools for greater change in the world. For a while I had lost my fire as a poet as I became disconnected from my poetry journey. I hit a stumbling block around 2 months ago and I scrambled to discover an answer to an important questions, namely, ‘Who am I as a poet? What do I write about? What is my core message?’.
This question first arose whilst I was thinking about my second year HP goal for my poetry which was all about brand awareness. Before someone can work on brand awareness they have to first start have to think about their brand identity and I didn’t have one at the time, or I should I say, I didn’t have my words put together. The ideas were there, the feelings were there, the type of poet I wanted to become was also there but I needed time to put it together.
One eurka moment that came to me was when I changed my poetry name. I changed it from ‘muaadspoetry’ to ‘theprincespen’ which is a lot more interesting to me. I have always liked the name the prince and as a younger child I would call myself ‘theclownprince’ for no reason at all other than how cool it sounded to me at the time. There is something amazing about the concept of royalty in general and this is what I wanted to include in my brand. My concept of royalty wasn’t supercificial, it was quite deep.
I thought about who I looked up to from the past. What connectioned them and suprisingly it was the fact that they were spiritual royalty and they took that spiritual royalness with them in life and let this light have an effect on all of their actions, thoughts and decisons. They were free minds. Rumi, Marley and others leaders I looked up to had this trait.
They lived in the way of love. They were mystical and detached from the world yet attached at the same time. I conversed with Dr Omid Safi, a leading scholar on Rumi and we exchanged emails (letters) and he was a loving patient guide who answered my many questions. “When love enters society it enters as justice” he informed me. Rumi isn’t just this hippy nice poet who makes people feel good, he’s an active force in the world.
With this wholistic worldview ready, I began to view God in a different way. Previously, it was a relationship of total fear. As a muslim this kingly God was the only God I would think about but now I began to factor in other names of his and think about them carefully. Al-Wudood is one of his names that mean the all loving, the source of love just like Al-Salam means peace and the source of peace. A lifestyle change would be to join this current or peace and love where ever it may be. Lord knows, the world needs this today.
With that said, the following poems that I will publish here where new poems that I published this month. Some discuss how my love for poetry has returned, others are mystical and some send a message about political science. Seeing so much disaster in the world, I really began to contemplate Islamic discussions of humanism from many centries ago and how they are relevant for all of us today. Some poems also discuss alchemy and how we as people are gold and how we must be burnt.
I was 21 when I followed the poetry army, And feeling 50 now, haunted; I met a man from the village of my mind, He sits beside my ear, whispering, I asked him: why do I feel like quitting poetry? “You’re a poor soul comparing your gifts with the gifts given to the people around you.” I found myself where I first began, Alone and writing in a hole, In the distance people are celebrating in Tilburg, And I’m here writing again, Falling in love with poetry.
Now that I’ve tasted this faith I know, My passion for prayer will never be little, Over it [the passion) you won’t find any mould, For this treasure is not brittle.
I will live here and pray, Offering up my prayers from the ground, My words make a long shadow, And leave a heavily ringing sound.
I offer up my praise to you, And my sweet surrender.
I’ve spent so long reading about great individuals and I always viewed themselves as the sun, too bright and too far away. I thought maybe I shined once in the past but I can’t shine like them today. But the difference between me and these great saints I looked up to is in one great secret. They felt negative emotions and dark thoughts but they didn’t let it stay in their hearts. They let it pass right through them. They knew those were caused by their circumstances and they knew it didn’t reflect who they are. But most of all, when they looked at others they saw their own humanity. No matter who it was, they always saw themselves in the eyes of others. In other peoples eyes they read their own pain, dreams and struggles. This allowed them to develop a light hearted attitude when being around other people.
Seeing the moon stand alone beautifully and peacefully each night, Shows me how, We should stand the same way, We are living processes in a wider Environment.
Life isn’t a puzzle to solve, So our lives aren’t a contest, We are living stories, Eternal signs.
Free your mind and live that way.
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Individualism is a force in society now that has slowly emerged over centuries.
It is one of the dominant forces in society now and it has an effect on every aspect of our lves.
It has shaped the way individuals look at and view poetry but only in OUR times.
Introduction
What is individualism? Prior to studying individualisms officially in school I never thought about the subject but it was a subject that interested me. In simple terms, individualism is a social theory favouring the individual over the collective.
The first time that I came across individualism was when Mary Oliver discussed it towards the end of her book called ‘Hand of Poetry’. Most of the book was technical and explained how to write a poem but the end of the book discussed where the ‘individual voice’ of the poet came from. She writes:
“The name itself—free verse—implies that this kind of poetry rose out of a desire for release from the restraints of meter, the measured line, and strict rhyming patterns.”
Here is the beginning, the part that first got my attention. This is on page 82 of the pdf and upon readig it I first thought, is it true that poets who initially started writing had a desire for freedom?
Continuing she says:
“Metrical verse has been written for centuries, and, before that, poetry depended on strict application of alliteration or some pattern of light and heavy stresses. Poets began to write free verse near the beginning of this century. Free verse is still in its de-velopmental stages, then. The rules are not yet set in stone, or even in clay. Discussing free verse is like talking about an iceberg, a shining object that is mostly underwater.
“Perhaps free verse was a product of the times. Perhaps it resulted from a desire on the part of writers at the beginning of this century to alter the tone of the poem.
Perhaps it had something to do with the increasing idea of a democratic and therefore classless society in America. Perhaps the proliferation of privately owned books had something to do with a changed attitude toward literature in general, and the poem in particular. As small towns and farming settlements grew into the west, with their distance from and independence from tradition, the idea of author-as-lecturer, as a member of an educated, special class, was scarcely applicable.
Now the poet was being called down from the lectern and in-vited, as it were, into the privacy of each reader’s home. The poet was expected to be more friendly— less “teacherly.” Content began to change. The slight glaze o gentility, and the ever-present question of the suitability of the subject matter faded into the back-ground.
The emerging voice, it seemed, was determined to write about anything and everything. With such expectations—of intimacy, of “common” experience—the old metrical line, formal and composed, must have seemed off-putting. A new tone, reflecting this growing relationship between writer and reader, was called for.
In order for the tone of the poem to change, the line had to change. Now a line was needed that would sound and feel not like formal speech but like conversation. What was needed was a line which, when read, would feel as spontaneous, as true to the moment, as talk in the street, or talk between friends in one’s own house.
This line naturally would have to affiliate itself more with the iambs and dactyls of natural speech patterns — the forward-reaching feeling of speech—than with the measures of meter. That, I think, is the long and the short of it. Speech entered the poem. The poem was no longer a lecture, it was time spent with a friend. Its music was the music of conversation.”
Here, Oliver wonderfully explains her theories as to why free verse developed as a style in the US. When I first started writing poems here as an international student in the Netherlands, without realising, I was using free verse.
I saw a old man from the US complaining about free verse and he clearly displayed a conservative bent and blamed the young generation for writing in free verse implying they did it as a result of laziness or rebellious attitudes.
At the time it deeply worried me for two reasons. First, I questioned whether or not I was writing poems to the best of my potential but I was also troubled with the emotional misrepresenation that I clearly saw happening. I was using free verse initially because I wanted my voice to be heard and it was for no other reason than that.
But a a more important question now arises, namely, why did I instinctively use free verse when I first started writing poetry? The answer? It felt like that was how poetry was written. It felt natural and it felt like its what everyone around me would understand quickly. I knew in my bones that as much as I admired shakespeare, everyone around me doesn’t want to spend time breaking down the complexity of his poetic skills but they want a quick poem that evokes much imagery and is simple to grasp.
It is true, in the democratic age we live in where people are skeptical of any form of authority, people don’t like to have rules placed upon them and then have their art work judged by those rules. Whether this is correct or not is up to debate. I use plenty of poetry techniques in my poems and I enjoy doing so but I do it from my own free will. Like Mary Oliver mentions when describing free verse:
“It need not scan, but it may scan a little if the poet is so inclined. It need not rhyme in a definite pattern, but it may rhyme a little, if the poet decides to rhyme a little. It need not follow particular stanza formations, though of course it may have stanzas. It need not follow any of the old rules, necessarily. Neither does it have to avoid all of them, necessarily.“
This is the most exciting type of poem in my opinion where you just don’t know what the poet will deliver next. It leaves you on the edge of your seat. I also believe that Shakespeare, with all of the new words he invented and the break ups of meter in his work was displaying a significant amount of autonomy in his work. I believe if he were alive today to see the new young creative free verse poets, I believe he would have found it interesting.
Conclusion
I believe that individualism has unfolded over the past few centuries and is no in complete swing in the 21st centuty but we often look at how this effects governments, political decisions, economy, business and the relationships between people. I think its much more interesting to view how it changes poetry.
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