KOCHI: Valsa George never intended to be a poet. Despite being an English teacher, in her alma mater, Nirmala College, Muvattupuzha, she never penned anything of her own. Her earliest memory of writing was when she wrote a poem for the college magazine about a soldier, at the warfront, who was writing a love letter to his beloved wife.
After a little over three decades, in 2007, at the age of 53, Valsa was afflicted with an ailment that led to her spending four months in bed. That was the time she started writing poetry, to ‘while away the time’, as she put it. Thereafter, she went on to publish four volumes comprising over 700 poems.
“I realised that I am a conventional poet,” she said. A spiritual streak runs through many of her poems. “Poetry has to be inspiring, so I try to make my poems direct, inspirational and musical,” she said. “People tell me that my poems have a soothing effect, which, I believe, is the greatest merit of my work.”
How do readers get in touch with her? “I started exploring the digital space and came across a few poetry websites,” said Valsa. “I sent across a few poems and they started publishing my work. It’s incredible how poets across the globe connect with their contemporaries! A Canadian poet, Doug Bentley, who came across my poems, encouraged me to publish them. A Pakistani poet calls me every once in a while to discuss our writings. She gives me feedback on my poems.”
Another interesting fact about the poet is that she has tried all the genres of conventional poetry, such as simple narratives, odes, sonnets, acrostic poems, limericks, haikus and so on.
“Each has a different style,” said Valsa. “The rhyme and rhythm would change considerably. For example, a limerick is supposed to be funny. Haiku is a three-line traditional Japanese poetry. The first and last lines of a Haiku have five syllables and the middle line has seven syllables. The lines rarely rhyme-
A small train derailed There was no casualty Was a millipede
How about poetry today? “Poets today write open-ended poems that can be interpreted in any way the reader wants. A lot is left unsaid. I do not understand that. To them, I might even sound boring and unintelligible!” said Valsa, who is an admirer of T S Elliot, John Keats, Lord Byron and William Wordsworth.
“My poems appeal to the common people, because they revolve around life, love, death and everthing that could possibly send out a message to someone reading them.”