"the poem returns to the object, and I, always, return to the body..." Shastra Deo reflecting on Poetry Object 2018

Shivling_Image.jpg

I spent a long time thinking about the object I’d write a response to for Poetry Object 2018. The objects that I hold most dear—or that are talismanic to me—are books. While I could easily write about any of my favourite books, I wanted to challenge myself by focusing on the physicality of a particular object, as I so often focus on the physicality of the human body in my writing.

I ended up choosing an object that I’ve always been drawn to, but knew little about until recently. The Shivling—which I’ve referred to as the “holy egg” for a very long time—is an abstract representation of the Hindu god Shiva. Although I’m not religious, I’ve watched my family use the Shivling in prayer since I was young, and find its shape and smoothness pleasing. When I think of the word “talisman”, the Shivling instantly comes to mind, though I still haven’t held or even touched it. To me, the object exudes a certain power and magnetic pull.

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Read शिवलिङ्ग (Shivling) here
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I initially started my poem with the image of the beak breaching the holy egg’s shell. Prayer, I think, is something we do not only to pay homage, but to gain favour. My mother told me that women who are trying to conceive often pray to the Shivling, and I like the idea that the result of prayer could manifest itself physically within the world. After researching more, I decided my starting point was the role that holy objects play in our lives—where we make room for prayer. But the poem returns to the object, and I, always, return to the body, and what it means to have a body that exists between the sacred and mundane.

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Shastra Deo is a poet commissioned for Poetry Object 2018.

Shastra Deo was born in Fiji, raised in Melbourne, and lives in Brisbane. Her work has appeared in Cordite, Meanjin, Peril, and elsewhere. Her first collection, The Agonist (UQP 2017), won the 2016 Arts Queensland Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize.