Meet Abida, Student Voices Leader and Poet – Part 2

Student Voices Leaders are a small cohort of students in grades 9-12 who work together to build a statewide network of education reform activists. In this continued profile of Student Voices Leader and poet, Abida, we gain insight into how the artist views poetry and their own writing. Read part 1 of our interview here.

Who are some of your favorite poets? Why do you like their work?

I love the work of Indian Nobel Prize winner, Rabindranath Tagore. His poems emphasize South Asian culture through vivid depictions of love, internal turmoil, and peace. I feel proud that he represents a background which I come from, as it is hard to find proper representation here in America. He used his voice and influence to shine light on topics that he cared about, such as religion, the life of women, human relations with nature, politics, and more. His lifelong and relentless work and dedication to art and literature is truly inspiring to a young and upcoming Bangladeshi poet such as myself.

Why are you interested in an anthology of poetry? Why is it important that you share different/unique/school-wide voices in your collection?

I am interested in an anthology of poetry because by sharing the voices of youth school-wide, we are creating a platform for a multitude of unique perspectives to be appreciated. I want to break down barriers, giving students an opportunity to get their work out there with less barrier to entry, while simultaneously creating a safe space for students to express themselves and get their work out there. By featuring student work in my anthology, I am helping students set their foot out into the general publishing and writing world. It is important that I share different perspectives and school-wide voices in my collection because poetry is something that can help readers connect directly to the poet, despite background or beliefs. I believe poetry is a language anyone can speak, if they are willing to open their minds and truly listen to the poet’s scriptures. I want to shine light on different experiences and feelings that students on campus have to help curate a more kind and understanding school culture for people of all backgrounds.

Do you think poems need to rhyme? Why or why not?

I do not think poems are obligated to rhyme. I think poems that do, are beautiful and delightful to read, but poems that do not are no less w

orthy of my time. As my experience in poetry writing increases with age, I’ve let go of the thought that all my poems had to rhyme to be deeme

d as a proper poem. I think prose poetry or poems that simply do not rhyme are underappreciated and can get the message across just as fine. Poetry does not have borders. It cannot and should not be defined by a straight line. What a poet feels, a poet writes. That is simply enough for a poem to be validated. I’ve read rhyming poems that don’t impact me as profoundly as a non-rhyming poem and vice versa. Normal speech and daily language can be deemed as poetry, and I would like to think that one does not rhyme in their daily diction. If so, I would like to have an interesting chat with such a person. 

What topics do you usually write about in your poems?

I write about womanhood, inner turmoil, culture, love, and nature. I love writing about trees and the soil and the sea. I love writing about the power, pain, and beauty of women. I love writing about both difficult and soft love. These are themes that often feature in my poetry, subconsciously so.

Do you consider yourself primarily a poet, or do you write in other genres?

I claim the title of a poet with pride. Not only because I publish poetry books, but because it is a form of writing that soothes my soul. I can write poetry on a whim, stashed away in a notebook or memorized internally in the folds of my mind. Whereas writing longer novels and stories take up more of my energy and brain power. I do aim to publish prose novels in the future, but as a teenager who is grasping with time management and a rigorous workload, I think poetry is the most efficient type of literature for my whirring young mind. I believe that being a Bangladeshi-American woman poet is a way that my multi-dimensional identities combine in beautiful overlaps. I find myself writing short stories to pass time as well, but they just don’t speak from within me as a poem can. As a child, I wrote narratives and riddles. I began critically thinking and analyzing life and society at a young age, but realized that sometimes people did not want to read work that was pages long. Thus, the formality of a concise poem stuck, and is with me to this day. 

Read part 1 of our interview here.

 

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