Review of poem 'The other' by Monika Mesterhazi

Poem 'The other' 

I request the readers to read the poem from the above link first and then my review. Thanks.

Review of poem 'The other' by Monika Mesterhazi

This poem is very short and crisp. Introspective poems are rare. Besides, amongst other poems this poem delineates the relationships we all are part of and probably are comparable with others. The only solace for a person at the evening of his life is reminiscing the wonderful moments of trust and bonding with a few of the kith and kin or friends. On the other hand, a person living up to a genuine relationship and rising to a worthy partner. But a genuine partner is very scarce. The poet’s dispassionate evaluation of self and others adds value to its relevance to contemporary lives. The vacuum or incompleteness in human life bothers all poets, the legends, the modern and the contemporary poets alike. The following dream of Walt Whitman on human life is probably the core of the dreams of all poets:

““This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.”

Profound poems are tireless waves of a creative ocean resounding the never ending quest for a more human and empathetic and inclusive world. This poem is a small wave but never negligible.