The PoArtMo Anthology Series: Interview with Lakshman Bulusu

Hello everyone!

Welcome to our PoArtMo Anthology Series, which celebrates the artists whose work appears in The Auroras & Blossoms PoArtMo Anthology: 2021 Edition.

Today’s guest is Lakshman Bulusu, who contributed the poem titled “Sea in the Day” (A STAR poem) to our anthology.

Auroras & Blossoms: Hello Lakshman. Congratulations for being a featured artist in our anthology! How does a poem begin for you? Does it start with an image, a form, or a particular theme?

Lakshman: For me, a poem mostly begins with an image or a particular theme. And then I adapt the ideas to fit a particular form. Sometimes it is all the three – think of it like a triptych for a poem.

A&B: Tell us all about the inspiration behind “Sea in the Day” (A STAR poem), the piece that appears in The Auroras & Blossoms PoArtMo Anthology: 2021 Edition.

Lakshman: The main inspiration behind this piece is nature and its beauty. And the way humankind can connect with nature. And this is all a positive experience, visiting the beach in early hours of morning, seeing the sun silk threads creating a gold rush, and so on. Additionally, my piece is written in the STAR poem poetic genre that I invented in 2016 and I wanted to see such a piece in this new form.

A&B: How important is accessibility of the meaning of your poems? Should we have to work hard to “solve” the poems and discover their deeper meanings?

Lakshman: To quote myself, (from one of my earlier book introductions):-

Poetry is the language of the heart.

Words voicing softly more than any art.

Most of my poems are straight forward and it should not take the reader more than reading two times to grasp the meaning conveyed. And I think I have done full justice to this aspect in my piece in this anthology. However, some poems like A MOONLIT NIGHT (published in my most recent collection of poems LOVE SCENE OR UNSEEN) might take a bit more reading to get into its theme.

A&B:Tell us the most positive and uplifting advice you have been given while working on your poetry.

Lakshman: The most positive and uplifting advice given to me while working on my poetry is:-

‘Read, read, write, read what you have written (sometimes at least twice), revise.’

Additionally, adhere to specific details in regard to content in a poem. The foundations don’t change, these being—

‘Show, don’t tell,’

and

‘No surprises to the writer, no surprises to the reader.’

Finally, I personally prefer to rhyme as much as I write free verse.

Bio:

Lakshman Bulusu is a Princeton, New Jersey, based poet and an IT professional. His poems have been published in The Villager, The Poets’ Touchstone and Poets International.  He created the STAR poem, a poetic form, in 2016. 

Lakshman is a Barnes & Noble Educator.

Lakshman, thank you for answering our questions and supporting Auroras & Blossoms! We know that people will love your poems as much as we do!

Cendrine & David