Cristina Díaz Aragón has coordinated the edition of ‘Bajo Techo. Quarantine poems’ / AR
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Half a dozen poets recite their work on International Poetry Day
When the gates were lowered, the streets were depopulated, the locks were thrown, the agendas were canceled, all the traffic lights were red and the balconies took on a previously unimaginable use, poetry served many as an escape route, a connection with the deeper emotions and reflection in relation to the unprecedented and surprising situation generated by the pandemic, in addition to simply entertaining to cope as well as possible during the turbulent year 2020.
Just one spring after which “he stole” much more than the month of April, the celebration of World Poetry Day arrives, a commemoration that David Gómez, a writer from Villamanrique, does not know if he will be caught working in the fields or perhaps ” preparing ”his 41st birthday that he will celebrate on Wednesday 24th and for which he has already written a poem that goes back to his roots.
For him, the author of a “humanist above all” work, poetry is “a way of living, like breathing”, which has helped, like “many arts”, to “express ourselves” and “endure and encourage” before a “screwed up” situation.
David Gómez, writer for Villamanrique / AR
‘Under Roof’
In the opinion of Cristina Díaz Aragón, from Puertollano, poetry has been “a window to get out of this chaos of the pandemic” and, on a personal level, its use led to the birth of the book ‘Bajo Techo. Quarantine Poems’ that he has coordinated and that is now in its second edition.
With the cover of Chema Gallardo and published by Ediciones Puertollano, the book brings together the work of 63 authors, including writers and illustrators, who speak, above all, of issues related to Covid, such as “confinement, fear of losing a being dear, the pain of having lost it and the boredom of being ‘indoors’, but there is also room for poems on other topics such as love and beautiful things ”, says Díaz Aragón, who highlights that the funds obtained from their sale will go to the Santa Águeda Association of Women Affected by Breast Cancer who “do an impressive job, especially on a psychological level.”
By spending more time at home during this year of restrictions, “many people have dedicated themselves to cooking, dancing, exercising,….”, And also “many people who write, as a result of being indoors, have dared to read his poems on social networks in order to entertain ”, appreciates Díaz Aragón, who believes that poetry“ has served as entertainment and a life jacket ”.
Handle
For Alfredo Jesús Sánchez, from Castellar de Santiago, poetry has served, together with music, as a vital “hold” so as not to go crazy, it has provided “light” and has been a “resource to continue knowing that there was life outside of our houses ”. “The blow that this plague gave us caught us so suddenly that we had to embrace what strengthened us the most” and, in his case, it has been his “family, wife and daughters, poetry and music.”
Alfredo Jesús Sánchez has just published ‘Between you and the sea’ / AR
Poetry, he emphasizes, has been “always basic” so that man “understands himself, where he lives and what beats inside him”, hence, “in this time in which he has been stolen from us contact with people “, poetry is” more fundamental than ever “because it speaks of the emotions and thoughts that we share, and serves as” bond, union and mortar of a society that we hope is better than the one we are leaving. “
“When they locked us up a year ago”, he came “quickly and running from Cartagena” where he had gone to collect the National Poetry Prize of the Floral Games and immediately “they put us in the dungeon”, but, despite the difficulties of this year , published in November the collection of poems ‘As the feline yearns for the gazelle’ and his new installment ‘Between you and the sea’ has just come out, a book “clean, full of love, hope and faith in life”.
Side B, poets recite poets
Like a psychologist
Poetry, in the opinion of the Spanish citizen Elisabeth Porrero, “has been one more form of therapy. Art helps us to express ourselves, to transmit our emotions to others and, as it has been such an intense year at that level, those of us who love and practice poetry has helped us a lot to express ourselves and show what we have felt ”.
In the case of the poet, it serves to bring out what “one has inside”, and in the reader to be identified in the poem. “You do not feel alone because you are reading a poem in which you see yourself reflected. It’s like having a psychologist, someone who is understanding you ”.
For Elisabeth Porrero, poetry has been “one more form of therapy” / AR
Much has been written this last year about suffering, but also about hope, and, as in many other areas, the screens “have served as a substitute for face-to-face meetings,” explains Porrero, who wonders “who has not been hypersensitive , who has not cried with the applause when he went out to the balcony or when he watched the news, it was very difficult to escape from this situation ”.
Refuge
As “a refuge” for many people, like the rest of the readings to “alleviate loneliness and sadness”, Eugenio Arce, from Torrenueva, describes the work carried out by poetry that “has a lot of therapy in that sense” .
“Some projects have been truncated because during the pandemic it has not been possible to present books or recitals but within all poets we have been adapting to the new stage that we have had to live.” The Guadiana Literary Group, for example, “is maintaining its literary gatherings online, on March 9 a poetry recital was held on the occasion of International Women’s Day, this Monday 22 will take place in the old Casino a recital on the occasion of the International Women’s Day. International Poetry and on Tuesday 23 will be held ‘The Festival of the Word’ “.
Eugenio Arce considers that poetry is “at its best” / AR
“Because man does not live on bread alone”, poetry serves “as food for the soul.” If it were only “eat, sleep, work, … I think there are more things” such as sensitivity, beauty and the meaning of the word that “help a lot to survive”, explains Arce, for whom, with the emergence of young poets in networks, “poetry is at its best.” Perhaps you have to outline or select, “but that does not mean that young people love poetry, like it and express their feelings through it.”
Balm
“Engaged in a very curious task” such as the Literary Ephemeris of remembering an author or writer on social networks every day in 2021 and her work, for Diana Rodrigo, from Miguelturra, poetry “has been a kind of balsam, of cure for all poets and lovers of letters, a way to take refuge and get out of this reality that we have been living in confinement. We have been able to read and enjoy many authors, at least in my case. I have taken refuge in it a lot ”.
Diana Rodrigo reads every day in 2021 on social networks the work of an author / AR
Rodrigo usually writes “rather” when he is “upset”; he is interested in “all the poetry” that he transmits to him, reaches his soul, the one that makes him “vibrate and feel”; and considers poetry as “something more than a way of life. Just like a member of my body, an arm, a leg, it is another part, I have carried it in my blood since I was born, that is, it is part of me “, and it helps to get rid of” all the demons and all the good things from within ”and to be able to show them, to“ heal myself and show the positive ”.
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