Posted on by Sonia Dogra

Wall

Dear Readers,

Walls throttle. They restrict. When they are raised, we fight. When they fall, we are buried in the rubble.

A scene from an old Hindi film that I watched as a child is strongly etched in my mind. It shows a four-walled structure being raised as a punishment, around a woman, inside which she is suffocated to death.

Walls, no matter how high or wide apart, are walls. Sometimes we build them around ourselves and sometimes our political/social landscape builds walls around us.

This week, Namratha has invited us to try the Hermit Crab form. I have done this before where my poem borrows the shape of a recipe, and it has yet to find a home. But in this Poetic Adventure, we have been invited to try the dictionary poem. To read more about it, please visit Namratha’s page here.

I have probably deviated a bit. It was supposed to be a description/meaning as we understand it. But for now, that’s how the prompt spoke to me. Maybe on another day, I’ll revisit it.

And now, over to my attempt for this week.

WALL

(noun)

  1. a continuous vertical brick or stone structure that encloses or divides an area of land.

the neighbour set up one without a chink, when I was six,

so there was no way the cows could stray,

and the dogs were kept out, and the children

who yelled, until the winter jasmine trailed over it

braving the frost.

2. a thing regarded as a protective or restrictive barrier.

borders  

build sanctuaries/raise regimes

wall out enemies/wall in dreams

give/take away

remain

until the voiceless climb over them

again and again

and again and,

again

3. (verb): enclose (an area) within walls, especially for protection or privacy; seal a place by building a wall around it; confine or imprison someone in a restricted or sealed place.

worry not. it’s a mallet, not a hammer. there’s yet

(blocked) sunlight, (trapped) airs, (stagnant)waters

find joy (in pain), show gratitude, stay walled

we got your back, you’re safe

worry not

Thank you for reading. See you next week!

I’ve been experimenting with poetry for seven weeks now, responding to prompts on Namratha Varadharajan’s page. You may read the previous poems on the following links:

Week 1: After Ada Limon

Week 2: Braiding a Poem

Week 3: Nature and Poetry; The Haiku

Week 4: An Attempt at Self-Portrait

Week 5: Exploring Prose Poetry and Surrealism

Week 6: Three Poems: The Cherita

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12 Replies to “Wall”

  2. I love what you did with this, Sonia. And that movie scene was memorable.

    ‘wall in dreams’ resonated with me. This is such a good word to use for the prompt as has multiple directions to go in.

    And the ending is just right “you’re safe

    worry not”

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    1. I agree. The word can be predicted in so many ways, and also used in various forms. Thank you for this value addition. Sorry, your name doesn’t appear here. And I don’t want to guess:)

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  4. Oh I don’t know what to say. This is way over my head. You’re a gifted writer. I wouldn’t know what to do with a prompt like that.
    Wonderful.

    But that movie etched in your memory from childhood! Oh my! Children shouldn’t watch such movies. It scared me just hearing you say what you remember. Sorry it happened to you. Be safe.

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  5. Sonia, you’ve started working your magic from the first lines of the blog itself, and then the Mughal-e-azam reference! I really loved how painfully visceral the walls in your poem felt, like a lived memory of my own. Beautifully incorporated with the meanings!

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