Hello everyone!
Welcome to our PoArtMo Anthology (Youth Edition) Series, which celebrates the talented young creatives featured in The Auroras & Blossoms PoArtMo Anthology: Youth Edition (Volume 2).
Today, Shailey Bellamkonda and Saara Parijaat are telling us what inspired the pieces they sent us.
Shailey Bellamkonda
Shailey Bellamkonda (Hyderabad, India) likes writing, reading, sketching, and listening to music. Her stories are published in various online literary journals. She is also a winner of the Himalayan Writing Retreat Fiction Contest.
Shailey is currently working on her first poetry and prose chapbook. She wants to become a data analyst and writer. “My role model is JK Rowling. The way she interweaves mystery, leaving intriguing clues within the sphere of drama is fascinating.”
Shailey sent us the poem titled Have You Looked Within?:
“AHAM BRAHMASMI! — as written in the Upanishad (Hindu Vedic Philosophical treatise to well living) is what inspired me to write this poem — ‘Have You Looked Within’. Aham Brahmasmi(I am the God/ I am the Brahman) urges us to understand and realise the cosmic energy that lies within us. Later date thinkers also resonated with the same — Search where you are Lost. Our body and mind encapsulate the unbound spirit of nature. Everything originates and is caused by the reflexes of our mind, body, actions, and words. The solution lies within the origin of the problem. This is my understanding and I wanted to express it in simple, yet well meaning, well intended lines. That is how the poem came out.
I am happy that Auroras & Blossoms provided me with the right platform to share my work resonating with the same spirit as my poem. I thank Cendrine and David for giving this work the deserving outreach. I hope this poem will instill positivity and inspiration amongst its readers.
Saara Parijaat
Saara Parijaat (Dehli, India) likes writing poetry, dancing, sketching, and animal welfare. She wants to commit her life to being an Earth Protector and work towards the prevention of the current Ecocide. “My role model is Malala Yousafzai. In an extremely adverse, life-threatening and hostile environment, she had the gumption to fight not just for herself, but also for the rights of other girls in her country. I resonate deeply with her ethos of Integrity, Bravery, Justice and Inclusion for all. Her commitment to realizing her mission of access to education for all, through the Malala Foundation, has transformed several young lives. Her story is an inspiration, her story has a purpose. I strongly believe that nobody is perfect, but that we all have a purpose. If we all fulfill it to make this world a better place, it will be much better.”
Saara sent us the poem titled Kindle My Kindness:
The poem was created to serve as an affirmation to the cyclical philosophy of Karma: where one’s actions boomerang to become one’s fate in a later bout.
To a guilty conscience, it induces fear. Paranoia. Though, it is a much needed affirmation for the altruists in the world to pursue the path of their heart. Knowing that every gesture of kindness they show, every tick of a clock they spend, every joule of energy they give away; will all eventually come back to nourish their own life.
This poem, I hold very close to my heart as I am reminded to play my role, and leave it at that. Our role is to be kind, and we must leave it at that. Only that. The poem doesn’t specify who will ‘return’ our kindness, it just illustrates a picture of it being showered back on us, through some force elected by the universe. Perhaps you’ll receive your share from not the one you gave it to. I want you all to know: your altruism, your benevolence, your compassion, are always acknowledged. I pray that the beautiful hymns of kindness you sing, echo back into your ears someday.
Shailey and Saara, thank you for sharing what inspired your pieces. We know that people will love your work as much as we do!
The Auroras & Blossoms PoArtMo Anthology: Youth Edition (Volume 2) will be released on March 23, 2023. In the meantime, you can pre-order your copy for 50% off the regular price. Offer ends on March 23, 2023.
Cendrine & David
Please note that Auroras & Blossoms only releases digital copies (ebooks) of its anthologies. This allows us to keep our costs and book prices low, and avoid charging young participants for submitting to us.