Carnival of Poetry (COP) is a monthly event organized by Migrant Writers of Singapore and supported by Sing Lit Station to establish bonding among the international community of poets and poetry enthusiasts. This event aims to celebrate the universality of literature, especially poetry, as a medium to communicate, unite, and celebrate humanity.
The 54th CoP Session fell on the 23rd of April 2023 with the theme “A Human’s Best Friend” to celebrate the joy that pets bring into people’s lives and encourage people to help reduce the number of animals in shelters. For most people, a pet is the best friend they will ever have!
For this session, we had 5 poetry enthusiasts who shared their lovely written poems.
The first reader was a Lawyer by profession, an Author, and a Comedian, Stephanie Dogfoot. While I’m listening to her, it touches my heart as she speaks about saving the lives of 3 abandoned kittens. Regardless of the challenges of rescuing abandoned kittens, it can be a very rewarding experience and I salute her and their family to raise tiny little kittens into adult cats that create an exceptionally deep bond between her family.
The second reader is an animal lover, Charo Sidon, who shared her beautiful poem about having a fur baby in her employer’s house, yet there’s also a shade of tears hidden in her eyes as she reads her second poem about her father’s pet “Miles” – a parrot who killed himself. This poem reminds me that, NOT only people struggling with depression, animals too. They are also like humans who need love, care, and attention. BEWARE!
The 3rd reader is a young brother J.M. Hossen Mosharaf from Bangladesh who didn’t hesitate to share his interesting story about his cat from his village. It explains how intelligent his cat is in trying to give him a signal that he is in danger as there’s a snake under his bed but in his case, communication failed. We know animals couldn’t talk and sometimes we just think it’s just a normal activity but it’s not.
LESSON: As a pet owner you have to pay attention, for a deeper connection on how they can communicate with us and to NOT misunderstand them whenever they want to deliver messages to us.
The 4th reader is Yuni, the pretty dandelion who shared her masterpieces. That enlightened me, a comparison between animals and human life. I am hooked up with this line: “Doesn’t this always happen in life? We’re simply abandoned by someone who we love?” Indeed! As “time changes everything”. Every single friendship/relationship and even family member who promised to be close and supportive can either end up fading away or betraying us. This part is extremely hard to understand but please take a moment to absorb it. Understand that life has its own way of throwing us around. Understand that these are just realities. It doesn’t feel good to give up on people or relationships but sometimes, holding on feels worse.
And last but not least Asqarini Hasbi shared her poems through pre-recorded videos entitled “My dear Best Friend” and “Locked No More”, which was an amazing poem that delivered a very positive outlook on life.
This session gives me butterflies in my stomach, I’m lacking the words, and I’m almost mute. This experience has highlighted that I need to practice more to be able to moderate future sessions better than yesterday yet I am thankful that I have moderated this session, there are so many lessons learned from all these amazing readers spreading awareness through their words and passion in writing. May all of you continue to be an inspiration to others, especially to our younger generations.
It is always an honor to be a moderator of CARNIVAL of POETRY. More power to Migrant Writers of Singapore for such a meaningful event, to Sing Lit Station for its endless support, to the COP team, and for all the readers who accepted our invitation with open arms.
See you next month and looking forward to connect to more aspiring migrants, local and international writers. Watch out for the next fascinating themes and guests!
Best Regards,
~Naicy Candido
