Response 3 - Feb. 7th

Place is a concept; more than a location, more than space, time, an environment, beauty and action itself. The way place is presented in the poems for this week seems to grasp at something more complex and meaningful than a physical location. Looking at Ishigarki Rin’s poem, Plucking Flowers, it becomes obvious that one of the things place does is to inhabit memories. From those memories, we see not only place, but the importance of that place. This is often something with many layers to it – the physical location brings forth memories and those memories are often tied to more complex emotions and events such as love, heartbreak, war, death, etc… When this happens, all of the layers identified become part of the definition of place for that poem.

This being said, from what I have experienced, place does not have a single definition, instead it is different for each situation and each poem. I felt place come through the poems in the form of emotions and senses, especially in Anjum Hasan and Toya Gurung’s poems. Place was felt within the words each poet used to communicate – this is most important as the way in which words are used can vastly change the way the reader embraces the piece. Gurung’s piece sticks out to me, especially because of the way the word “pride” is used – “I feel a pride” (1) feels as though it is used to represent a sense of place in itself. There are different denotative definitions for the term, but the way it is used here feels as though is combines the denotative and connotative form of the term to create something as large and complex as the temple itself.