Poetry Friday: Love, Lost and Found

(Hosted today by Anastasia Suen of Book Talking)

As far back as I can remember, poetry and love have been bedfellows, whether in the expression of longing, of lost, of ecstasy and of despair, love and poetry have seen it through. Most poets, if not all, have penned a “love poem.” Yet, as a young poet, I was often given the advice not to write about love—its too cliché, over used and abused and editors just hate love poems. A strange notion, for as universal as love is, the experience never is the same. But maybe it takes a kind of eye, a kind of perspective to take love’s cliché to something that doesn’t just promises the  moon and  the stars.

This May/June for Poetry Friday we’ll be sharing the work of Kristian Jeff Cortez Agustin (KCJA), our featured poet.  His book for love and poetry (published by Universe and Words, London) explores love and the nuances of it. In the book’s prologue, he describes this collection of poetry as:

“This book of personal souvenirs will take you through twelve years of love—a gripping feeling, as indescribably emotion, one state of being that you and I can only try to put into words but never really understand.”

So for the next few Poetry Fridays, join us here at Gathering Books as we take a walk through 12 years of love with KCJA. Today, I’d like to share his poem Lost and Found, a poem whose tangible details made me think of Neruda and his ode to things.

Lost and Found

I will collect sensations

from simple tables and chairs, doors and windows,

and empty boxes and brittle sticks of chalk,

turpentine, paintbrushes, and pencil cases.

 

I will collect sentiments and thoughts

from breadcrumbs and undelivered mail,

cups and pots, empty shelves and empty drawers,

faded blankets and tattered shoes.

 

All these I would do

to find you in every little thing, in every contraption

and books and records, maps, stars and dreams,

because I sent you away , forgot about you,

and I sadly miss you so much.

—-

Maybe its my love for the mundane and how they capture so much more than we expect that made this poem speak to me. Or maybe its the nostalgia of the memories random objects can hold.

I hope you enjoy this poem and come back next week for more of KCJA.

——-

The Poet

Born in 1984, the Year of the Rat, and a ‘Cancerian’, he delves into art and poetry as an effective means of self-expression and learning. In 2012, Agustin accomplished his Master’s degree in Visual Culture at the University of Westminster, London in 2012, after completing his dissertation on ‘social media interventions in governance and subject formation’. In 2006, he obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Art Studies at the University of the Philippines, where he co-founded the Sirkulo ng mga Kabataang Artista (‘Circle of Young Artists’) in 2002 and served as its Artistic Director to date.