Good morning fellow writers Im Gwen Harwood.

It is not my ambition to provide universal

insight into life as a whole; none could be so proud, or so foolish. Only in highlighting our
struggle to grapple with such an experience can we, in unison understand the experiences of
one another. I attempt to do exactly that in my poem Triste Triste where I reflect on our struggle
to come to terms with our mortality.
As grand as life can be, it can be captured in the minutiae of life as I do with the moment
between love and sleep, embodying the struggle between creativity and the duties of everyday
life and thus the struggle between our aspiration towards the metaphysical and our own
mortality. Such struggles are highlighted in the momentary liberation of the soul as the heart
mourns in its prison. Creativity, a tool which I believe can allow for the reconciliation of
humanitys paradox in its liberation strives towards the metaphysical and is thus symbolised by
the soul. However, this freedom experienced is inhibited by the cries of the heart which through
its life giving beating also keep us bound to the material earth and to the promise of death. This
is seen through the personification of the heart as it speaks in imperatives through the
repetition of remember and reinforced through the iamb of its dialogue, mimicking the
consistency and regularity of a heartbeat imposing restrictions on human creativity. Indeed, the
restrictions placed on us in our quest for creativity and thus the divine is seen through the
metaphor of the unbearable light. Conventionally associated with enlightenment, the persona
closes their blood black curtains tight in order to delve into the mind where creativity and thus
the doorway to the metaphysical lies. It is the pervasiveness of the light of the earthly world
which awakens one from dreamful sleep. This sacrifice of the creative for the everyday whether
it be domestic chores or work life is what I compare Christs sacrifice for human kind to. This
use of Christian imagery (although other would argue it is exaggeration) although seemingly
incongruous is an embodiment of the creative process through the reconciliation of two
virtually unrelated concepts, reflecting the paradoxical existence of the heart and the soul, of
creativity and responsibility and of life and death. Christs acceptance of his death allows him to
break open the gates of hell, paralleling the conclusion where the soul breaks open the hearts
prison so that they can be rejoined in sleep. It is this acceptance that peacefully concludes my
poem. Thus, Im able to capture the human struggle through life with death in our struggle with
creativity and the everyday.
It is only like Christ, through an acceptance of these antitheses that one can reconcile the
paradoxical nature of life itself. Hopes to understand may be futile, and it may only be through
the acceptance of our struggle that we are able to come to terms with our existence.