I discovered quite by accident that today is World Poetry Day. It’s a day that UNESCO set aside in 1999 at its 30th Session held in Paris. This is what Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO has said about the day: “By paying tribute to the men and women whose only instrument is free speech, who imagine and act, UNESCO recognizes in poetry its value as a symbol of the human spirit’s creativity. By giving form and words to that which has none – such as the unfathomable beauty that surrounds us, the immense suffering and misery of the world – poetry contributes to the expansion of our common humanity, helping to increase its strength, solidarity and self-awareness.”
As the daughter of a father who wrote poetry and the sister of a brother who also writes poetry, I am appreciative of just how important and valuable this form of expression is. Their artistic poetic expressions are different but convey words of depth and wisdom as you can see. My soul and spirit have been touched by the many poems I have read over the course of my life by many different poets. It’s wonderful that UNESCO has this wonderful day to honour poets and poetry. I like Maya Angelou’s quote on artists (which includes poets) ‘All great artists draw from the same resource: the human heart, which tells us that we are all more alike than we are unalike.’ The bottom line is always about what’s in the human heart, isn’t it? I will share two of Ronald Janki’s poems with you below. Robert Janki’s poems are above.
This is my tribute to World Poetry Day! Hope these poems give you some room for reflection and thought about poetry and World Poetry Day.