Interview With Mauureen Kwiat Meshenberg

Welcome to The Women Behind The Poetry, where we interview women from the 'Journey of The Heart: Women's Spiritual Poetry Project'!  

Today we introduce you to Maureen Kwiat Meshenburg, an active and inspiring poetess online, and in her local women's circles, who will be publishing her own book in November 2014. 

What was it like for you when you first began writing poetry?

I began to write poetry when I was a teenager. Even then, it was a spiritual experience for me. I always thought it to be a powerful and beautiful spiritual gift. For when I write, it is like a stream of consciousness that comes over me; the words flow out from deep within me. 

  

What do you like writing about the most?

I love writing about the seasons and their spiritual analogy to the dying and the rebirthing of oneself. The seasons are a great prompt for me to explore the words that describe their beauty and their phases as they match what is going on with my life.

Which subjects are the hardest for you to write about?

When something tragic happens, whether in my life or that of another, it is hard for me to write about it because my heart aches when the words flow out. However these poems tend to be the most powerful ones that touch people. I feel like a shaman of words, they are pulled deep from within my soul, and it brings me through a great emotional experience. 

When do you feel most inspired to write poetry?

I do tend to feel most inspired by whatever is happening in my life or that of another brought on through inspiration or suffering. Both equally bring powerful words of affirmation or of healing. I am a prolific writer; my best writing comes from times like these. 

What is your biggest fear or hesitation when deciding to share a poem with the public?

It really depends on the audience, if I feel my poem is more esoteric, I wonder if the literary poet in the group will look at my poems as being too spiritual, or simple in their eyes. My fear is their acceptance of the way I write. I often will write a more real-life piece, to accommodate this type of audience. This is my ego and my humanness wanting to connect with them, but my poetry should speak for itself, and I should let it. The words that come from me are meant to touch all people, no matter who is in the audience.   

What is the most profound thing you have learned from writing poems?

That the words that come from me and how they come, are a true gift from Spirit within. My writing process is a flow of consciousness. Often I do not realize how powerful the poem is until I put the pen down. My writing does not come from my intellect, it comes from my soul. 

What function has writing poems played for you in your life?

I was recently reintroduced to my writing after a complete awakening of my soul and coming back to a conscious spiritual life. Unfortunately it came through the devastating ending of my 20-year marriage. What started off as journaling and the pouring of my heart on paper, ignited my writing of poetry again.

Name some of your favorite poetesses.

Mary Oliver, Oriah Mountain Dreamer, Maya Angelou.

What effect does reading the poems of others have on you?

Most poems are spiritual soul food for me. They tap into a place of my heart where I breathe the words in, I feel them become a part of me or they resonate to something happening to my life. 

How did you first discover Journey of The Heart?

I had the honor and the fortunate pleasure of Catherine inviting me to send my poems to be published in Journey of The Heart. Through it I have met many wonderful poetesses and my soul connection with you. This has been an amazing part of my journey with my poetry. 

Have you publicly shared your poetry before doing so via this project?

I have my own page that I started on New Year’s Eve starting 2012 called Heart’s Calling on Facebook reaching 2,650 fans. I am also the Visionary Poet on Women as Visionaries with Lore Raymond Magazine for almost 2 years, also on Facebook.

What has been your general experience of sharing your poetry on Journey of The Heart?

My experience has been so welcoming and inspiring. Not only do I enjoy seeing my poems reach many other women and men in the world, I have had the significant privilege of meeting such powerful poetesses. Their words have truly touched my heart and soul. 

Any last words you’d like to share about poetry?

My soul and heart’s vision is to continue to touch others with my poetry. I do not view my poetry as a hobby, it truly is a spiritual experience; this is truly my Heart’s calling.  I am currently working on publishing my own book, which I expect to release in November 2014.  

❤

Maureen Kwiat Meshenberg: About 3 years ago, I was awakened from my slumber, though it was a devastating breaking point in my life, I was reunited to a true relationship with my spiritual self and my gift through poetry. It is my intention to reach others by sharing my story through poetry and touching theirs. I am the Page owner of Heart’s Calling. I am also the Visionary Poet for the Facebook Magazine "Women as Visionaries with Lore Raymond" here. I recite spoken word at different venues and also host a monthly Creative Writing Circle using the space for women to bring out their inner release through written word. I am currently working on publishing a book of my poetry. I can be contacted through my Heart’s Calling Facebook page here.

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PLEASE CLICK "comments" BELOW TO SHARE A RESPONSE.

~If you are one of the poetesses from 'Journey of the Heart', and would like to appear in this blog, just click here to request an interview. We are excited to learn more about you!~

~If you write poetry and would like to share it on 'Journey of The Heart', click here for submission guidelines. And thank you for your interest!~ 

Interview with Braja Sorensen

Welcome to The Women Behind The Poetry, where we interview women from the 'Journey of The Heart: Women's Spiritual Poetry Project'!  

Today we introduce you to the multi-talented Braja Sorensen, author of  Lost & Found in India (2013, Hay House International) and the very first poetess whose work appeared in this project! 

Journey of The Heart was inaugurated on September 22, 2012, a special day in the bhakti yoga tradition celebrating the supreme Goddess, known as  Radha. It all started with Braja's poem 'Fair Beauty', on Goddess Radha, found here.

When and how did you first begin writing poetry?

I was in my mid-30s when I first started writing poetry, and it was at the point of one of the spiritual evolutions in life, you know how those go, right? I was on my own, in a foreign country, and really wanting to put a lifetime — or a series of them — behind me and move forward. To what, I didn’t know, but I knew it was deep inside me and I started to dig.

What subjects are easiest for you to write poems on?

Pain and sadness; I felt it, and I had experienced it, and I wanted to shed it.

What subjects are the hardest for you to write about?

I don’t think I’ve come across that yet…

When do you feel most inspired to write poetry?

Possibly in those times, the deeply painful movements of time that each one of us goes through in different ways.

What is your biggest fear or hesitation when deciding to share a poem with the public?

I don’t think I have any, to be honest. I don’t really invest anything in a person’s response; I think it’s easy for a writer or poet to understand that they’re not doing it for approval or response; maybe some do. In fact, yes, they do! I don’t know about others but I can sense that need for validation in a person’s writing, and it’s an instant shutdown for me.

Writing and poetry, they’re like viewing a painting: it’s the individual’s interpretation, there can’t be attachment to what you’re doing or you’ll live your life jumping through hoops trying to impress or please. Conversely, people tell me I come across as arrogant or dismissive. But it’s neither; it’s just that once something is written I’m unlikely to go back and read it or see the response or think of it again. It’s out, it’s in the ether, it’s gone.

What is the most profound thing you have learned from writing poems?

The power and depth and beauty of words, without doubt.

How is writing poetry a spiritual process for you?

I think it’s hard to separate it from anything else I do, and to say, “OK, this is part of my spiritual process, this is not.” Isn’t everything? It is for me...despite what it appears to be on the outside, everything I say or do, right or wrong, it’s all part of my process. How can it not be?

And writing is my life, it’s all I do, it’s my work, my art, my expression, my mind, intelligence, emotions and heart. It’s my communication field of play, whether positive or negative, strong or soft, whiplash or rose petal.

Name some of your favorite poetesses.

Zeb-un-Nissa. She was an Imperial Princess of the Mughal Empire and the eldest child of Emperor Aurangzeb. She wrote under the pen name Makhfi, which means “Hidden One”. Naturally her vile father imprisoned her (he also famously imprisoned his father: Shah Jahan, the man responsible for the Taj Mahal) and consequently the last 20 years of Zeb-un-Nissa’s life at were spent in Salimgarh Fort in Delhi.

Zeb-un-Nissa’s writings were collected posthumously and entitled Diwan-i-Makhfi, which means “The Book of the Hidden One.” I have a strong attraction to the Mughal Empire period, and the women were fascinating: learned in Persian, Urdu, and often other languages, they were artistically inclined and  especially towards literary arts.

In the bhakti tradition, Mirabai (naturally); she writes from that mixture of solitude, of being tired with the world, of only wanting spiritual fulfillment, of not caring for social norms, of following her Lord despite the cost. She was a Rajput princess who gave everything up and lived like a yogini in Vrindavan, singing songs to Krishna and devoting herself to her spiritual practices. I like “Listen,” where she writes, “If the worship of stone statues could bring us all the way, I’d have adored a grante mountain years ago.” No doubt it referred to what was, at the time, a very secular and patriarchal society that she lived in, and women had little or no say. She was a real rebel with a clue, Mirabai...

Women tend to write for the same reasons: a combination of an expressive emotional art form and the processing of sadness and pain. It’s a universal theme in the poetry of women. Janabai, she was from the opposite end of the social scale from Mirabai; she lived in the 13^th century and quite pointedly, she was a maid in the house of Namdev, a bhakti poet and a very high class member of society. She wrote hundreds of poems about being a low-caste servant and the restrictions of her life.

All the bhakti poetesses write in the same vein, the ones from centuries ago: the restrictions of their life, the pain of having to live according to society, their longing for their Lord – Mahadevi, from the south of India, wrote of her love for Siva in the same way Mirabai wrote of hers for Krishna.

Yet conversely, and interestingly, Zeb-un-Nissa was not confined by any social pressure, at least in the first part of her life: she was learned, enlightened, fluent in many languages and assisted her father, the Emperor, in his court, serving in his councils. She wrote in Persian, a particularly poetic and beautiful language, and communicated freely with many famous male poets of the time (the 16^th century), was encouraged by all, and her poetry was filled with expressions of a painless love towards her Lord, a joyous glorification of life. She was deeply religious, a Sunni Muslim, but with none of her father’s rigid orthodoxy.

There is a story told, that Zeb-un-Nissa was walking in the beautiful gardens of the palace, and chanting a poem she had written, “Four things are necessary to make me happy — wine and flowers and a running stream and the face of the Beloved.” She suddenly saw her father sitting under a tree in meditation, and feared he had heard her and would consider her words profane. She noticed he hadn’t, and so she continued to chant, but changed the second line to read, “Four things are necessary for happiness — prayers and fasting and tears and repentance.”

Of course during confinement her words became deeper and her poetry and expression of the pain of the course her life had taken. “Even the morning breeze is hot with wrath, No soft assuagement in its breath it hath, It only faints and dies.” Yet in the end, her poetry bears resemblance to Mirabai’s and others who write from the pain of life cruelties inflicted upon them:

How uselessly is spent

And cast away the treasure of my life,

In bitter separation from my Friend !

Surely, O cruel Heavens, might now my strife

My grief, my pain, my weary discontent,

Attain the end!

What effect does reading the poems of others have on you?

They tap the locked words inside me and free them, like you would rattle the cage of a dove who hesitated to fly out the open door. They give me wings.

Have you publicly shared your poetry before doing so via this project?

Yes, I’ve written from time to time, and been published in anthologies and won awards even, in Australia and Britain. But the more personal, deeper, spiritually oriented writing, that, I haven’t shared so much. Some has been published in bhakti publications, but the Journey of The Heart site is the first of its kind for women, I think, and it’s natural to have some of my poetry published there. It’s nearing a “collection” stage, I think!

Any last words you’d like to share about poetry?

Just one: WRITE!

❤

Braja Sorensen is an award-winning poet and writer, and the author of Lost & Found in India 2013, Hay House International. Originally from Australia, she has spent most of her adult life living and working in India, London, and the United States. She now lives in the village of Mayapur, on the banks of the Ganges in West Bengal. She writes for several publications internationally, but is waiting for Vogue to see the light and give her a damned column. Until then, you can find her on Facebook and on her series of article with Catherine Ghosh on Yoga in the Gita here, which is in the process of becoming book. 

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PLEASE CLICK "comments" BELOW TO SHARE A RESPONSE.

~If you are one of the poetesses from 'Journey of the Heart', and would like to appear in this blog, just click here to request an interview. We are excited to learn more about you!~

~If you write poetry and would like to share it on 'Journey of The Heart', click here for submission guidelines. And thank you for your interest!~ 

Video Interview With Pranada Comtois

Welcome to our third interview with one of the poetesses from the Journey of The Heart: Women's Spiritual Poetry project!

Today we introduce you, via video, to Pranada Comtois, a beautiful bhakti yogini living in Northern Florida. Pranada is an inspired advocate of women's voices, and was one of the first activists in the gaudiya vaishnava tradition's migration to America to insist on equal opportunities for its female practitioners. 

How were you first introduced to writing poetry? 

On my fiftieth birthday I went up to the ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, St. Augustine Beach, and was watching the water come in, and also just walking up and down the beach, and I felt my youth was gone. It was my fiftieth birthday and I hadn't experienced that on any other birthdays.

 I looked out at the ocean, picked up a pen and paper, and just started writing the emotions that were surging through me. "I have to face this", I said to myself. So I just wrote it down, set it aside, then came back to Gainesville and showed the poem to a dear friend who is also a writing mentor, and she said: "Pranada, you're a poet!" And ever since then she has called me 'Pranada The Poet'.

 I felt that it was an entry into writing poetry. It was permission to speak, in simple terms and few words. 

I couldn't get out a lot of words. My speaking ability was so shut down that it was frightening to think of speaking and venturing into writing. So here was this little poem, few words, but expressing some deep emotional feeling that was rising up. And it was captured and it was an experience of: "Oh! This is how you write your experience with words on paper!" So it was a very affirming act, giving me permission. 

To hear the rest of the interview, click play:

Pranada Comtois is a spiritual activist passionate about embodying, and writing about, divine love: how to recognize spiritual love, awaken it, direct it and revel in it for the self, family & community. For forty years she's cultivated Bhakti Yoga; is the Managing Editor for Bacopa Literary Review and blogs at Little Ways of Being. Connect with her on Facebook or Twitter. 

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PLEASE CLICK "comments" BELOW TO SHARE A RESPONSE.

~If you are one of the poetesses from 'Journey of the Heart', and would like to appear in this blog, just click here to request an interview. We are excited to learn more about you!~

~If you write poetry and would like to share it on 'Journey of The Heart', click here for submission guidelines. And thank you for your interest!~ 

Interview With Kiernan Antares

Welcome to our second interview with one of the poetesses from 'Journey of The Heart: Women's Spiritual Poetry'!  

Today we introduce you to visionary artist Kiernan Antares who writes a poem as an accompanying message to every goddess painting she creates. 

When did your relationship with writing poetry begin?

My earliest memory of writing poetry is in High School for an English assignment. Once I started I couldn’t seem to stop! It got into my blood and I wrote book after book of poems. 

I struggled to fit into any particular groups and was often a loner. Poetry became my escape and my best friend, though it seemed to cast me further into the weird category, it was a balm and outlet for my strange meanderings into my soul.

How would you compare the poems you write now to the ones you wrote then?

The poems I write now are vastly different than when I began as a teenager. Then, it was a lot of angst and yearning, now I love to celebrate the Divine Feminine Spirit in her many aspects.

When do you feel most inspired to write poetry?

Always after I finish a painting. I sit and gaze and listen… for what wants to be spoken from the Goddess who has emerged in the piece. It usually doesn’t take very long because we’ve been spending much time together in Her emerging, in Her coming alive on the canvas. 

I am also very inspired when I take long slow walks in nature, with my feet on the ground and all the elements stirring around me, I hear the whispers of my heart or the love and wisdom of the universe.

What is your biggest fear or hesitation when deciding to share a poem with the public?

I used to worry about sharing myself in such an intimate way and the strangeness of my connection to the Unseen realms in the beginning. But the response has been so wonderful and appreciative that I just release them to the world now, in faith of their finding the hearts that are open to receive them. Not once have I received a negative, critical or derogatory comment and this has helped tremendously in sending them out with gratitude instead of fear.

What is the most profound lesson you have learned from writing poems?

I would say the most profound lesson I have learned is that it’s really not very difficult to access a deeper wisdom when you enter a space of receiving a poem. Rather than trying to conjure something up, in the opening to receive the words just come.

How is writing poetry a spiritual process for you?

Much like with my painting, when writing poetry I am transported into a space of connection to the Divine Feminine, to my heart, my soul, and to the world and this makes me feel vital and alive. It makes me feel like I am fulfilling my purpose and making a difference in the world, and to me this is spiritual, because at the root of all that I am, I am spiritual.

Name some of your favorite poetesses.

Mary Oliver, Oriah Mountain Dreamer, Carolyn Riker, RuthCalder Murphy, Maya Angelou, and Hildegard von Bingen are among my favorite poetesses.

What effect does reading the poems of others have on you?

I sink into my heart and I am inspired. It creates a lovely eternal and limitless sigh of love, spirit, and gratitude.

Have you publicly shared your poetry before doing so via this project?

Yes, I have publicly shared my poetry before becoming a contributing poetess for Journey of The Heart, but always with its accompanying painting. To be honest, I’m not sure actually that I would have done so otherwise because releasing your inner most feelings and desires to the world is most daunting. I guess I must feel a measure of safety in releasing the two together.

What has been your general experience of sharing your poetry on Journey of The Heart?

My experience with Journey of The Heart has been immensely gratifying – to see my poetry exposed to a wider audience and especially among spiritually minded women who are passionate about living fully is such a blessing.

Any last words you’d like to share about poetry?

Poetry is truly nourishment for the whole of us – our body, mind, and heart. It’s a wonderful escape from life while also filling us with life. Sinking into a poem, feeling it, drinking it, being with it is such a delicious experience. Our world would be unbearably barren without it. I give thanks for all the poet hearts in the world.

❤

Kiernan Antares is a visionary artist, poet, and teacher based in Toronto, Ontario whose paintings and writings tell deep and rich stories through contemporary symbolism that offer healing, hope, and empowerment for the feminine soul ~ the heart of the world that has been suppressed in each of us, but is now re-awakening and emerging as a powerful force of love and wisdom. "It is my hope that something in my art will create a tiny explosion in your heart and that you will see that something, that Sacred Feminine Soul you’ve hungered for all along as a woman. She lives within you, She calls to you ~ to remember and awaken." You may connect with Kiernan via her website here, or find her on Facebook. 

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PLEASE CLICK "comments" BELOW TO SHARE A RESPONSE.

~If you are one of the poetesses from 'Journey of the Heart', and would like to appear in this blog, just click here to request an interview. We are excited to learn more about you!~

~If you write poetry and would like to share it on 'Journey of The Heart', click here for submission guidelines. And thank you for your interest!~ 

Interview With Carolyn Riker

Welcome to our first weekly interview with one of the poetesses from 'Journey of The Heart: Women's Spiritual Poetry'! 

We begin by introducing you to the lovely Carolyn Riker, one of the first regular contributors to the project. 

Journey of The Heart (JOTH): When and how did you first begin writing poetry?

Carolyn Riker: I was probably eight or perhaps younger when I started writing in a small diary. Simple poems. Sweet thoughts. It had a little lock and key. Each Christmas I received a new diary to write my words.

Which subjects are easiest for you to write about?

It is easiest for me to write about nature and her lovely elements. 

Which subjects are the hardest for you to write about?

Love and relationships. Sometimes it flows eloquently and other times a knot forms in my throat. My voice gets stuck and therefore written words slip through my fingertips.

When do you feel most inspired to write poetry?

When I’m near or in nature. On a hike. Driving on a country road. Near water. 

What is your biggest fear or hesitation when deciding to share a poem with the public?

How much of me is being exposed. What will people think? Is it too much? Is it even good enough?

What is the most profound thing you have learned from writing poems? 

To be concise. Finding just the precise word to bring flavor to the mood, moment, or ecstasy. To find myself lost in a stream of thought and to come out the other side exhausted but satisfied by writing a poem. (tea and chocolate help too)

How is writing poetry a spiritual process for you? 

I tap into my heart and listen. I let go of the chatter. It is meditative to write poetry. A bubble envelopes me but my core is lit. There’s a synergy with the universe. I wish I had words to describe it fully; but English is almost debilitating to my expression of the spiritual process. I often cry with each word – and the feelings I’m trying to convey. Spirit speaks in solitude.

What function has writing poems played for you in your life? 

A lifeline. An umbilical cord to healing, processing, communicating the onslaught (at times) of feelings, emotions….dissecting a sensory overload into a meaningful tutelage. 

Name some of your favorite poetesses. 

 Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath, Maya Angelou, Louisa May Alcott, Jane Austen, Christina Rossetti, Mary Oliver….oh this list could keep going on!

What effect has reading the poems of others had on you? 

If the poems are well written, I dissolve into their words. If they're rambling I get weary. I may either laugh or cry. Depends on the spell of the poem and their words.

How did you first discover Journey of The Heart?

November 2012. It was a year of transition and finding my voice again. The universe played a ginormous role and the stars led me to Journey of The Heart. I had no idea my first poem would be published. I hit enter on my ancient computer and a few hours later, I receive your lovely reply….then guidance and an outpouring of love that I can only consider angelic came from you!

Have you publicly shared your poetry before doing so via this project? 

I did have a few poems published, scattered decades ago, but nothing as monumental as this. 

If not, what did it feel like to share your poetry for the first time on Journey of The Heart?

My first poem, published on Journey of The Heart left me breathless. I kept blinking first at my wee cellphone and then to my computer screen….thinking it was a mirage. I told my kids and we did a happy dance in the kitchen. I wasn’t sure if I should even ‘like’ it. I didn’t want anyone to know either. Why? Scared and so uncertain. This is/was a whole new side of me being shared and revealed to many. 

What has been your general experience of sharing your poetry on Journey of The Heart?

Beautiful! The most nurturing, supportive, enlightening, honest and loving experience. What guided me to Journey of the Heart? The need to be heard and held by the hand. I didn’t have a bio or even a picture.  I found someone to believe in my words and sprinkle kindness to let them grow. 

Any last words you’d like to share about poetry? 

Poetry is an intricate dance of love and heart. It languishes by the sea and dips into the storms. Poetry has an eloquence of bittersweet joy and a splash of melancholy.  It is love.

Carolyn Riker is an elementary teacher, mental health counselor, writer and a poet who finds comfort and balance in her kids, nature, music and her sweet cat Copper.  She can be seen sipping soy lattes, nibbling on dark chocolate or savoring a full-bodied red wine. Introspective, forthright, kind and compassionate, she intertwines life with yoga, meditating and learning about Vedic Astrology and Ayurveda.  She also writes for Elephant Journal and Rebelle Society. Carolyn can be reached via her e-mail address carolynra7@hotmail.com or on facebook here.  
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PLEASE CLICK "comments" BELOW TO SHARE A RESPONSE.

~If you are one of the poetesses from 'Journey of the Heart', and would like to appear in this blog, just click here to request an interview. We are excited to learn more about you!~

~If you write poetry and would like to share it on 'Journey of The Heart', click here for submission guidelines. And thank you for your interest!~