1267: What the Body Gives Away by Saba Keramati

Summary

Summary of Episode 1267: "What the Body Gives Away" by Saba Keramati

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily
Host: Major Jackson
Release Date: January 7, 2025
Poem Featured: "What the Body Gives Away" by Saba Keramati

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Introduction

In Episode 1267 of The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily, host Major Jackson delves into the evocative poem "What the Body Gives Away" by Saba Keramati. This episode, nestled within the daily rituals promoted by American Public Media, invites listeners to pause and engage deeply with the intricate connections between our physical experiences and emotional landscapes through the lens of poetry.

Exploration of Emotional Expression Through Poetry

Major Jackson begins by addressing a profound statement from a public talk: "I do not feel I have no emotions. So I write poetry to produce my emotions." This paradoxical confession sets the stage for an exploration of how poetry serves as a conduit for emotional expression, especially for those who perceive a disconnect between their inner selves and outward feelings.

"Poets often think of their writing as an excavation of emotions. Because society asks us to repress our inner lives, we write to bring to surface embedded feelings." (00:27)

Jackson reflects on the traditional view of poetry as a means of uncovering and expressing emotions, yet introduces the intriguing notion that for some, poetry might actually create emotions rather than merely unveil them.

Sensory Experiences and the Body's Role

Delving deeper, Jackson draws a parallel between sensory experiences and emotional awareness. He muses on the idea that writing allows individuals to fully experience sensations that they might not consciously feel otherwise, likening it to tasting a peach without initially experiencing its sweetness or embarking on a roller coaster ride without sensing the impending thrill until it's articulated through language.

"Imagine eating a peach and not experiencing its texture, juiciness, sweetness. Only until after you sit down to write a poem." (00:45)

This metaphor underscores the transformative power of language and poetry in heightening our sensory and emotional perceptions.

Analysis of "What the Body Gives Away"

Shifting focus to Saba Keramati's poem, Jackson emphasizes its central theme: the body's inherent wisdom and the often-overlooked signals it provides about our internal states. He appreciates the poem's aim to cultivate acute bodily awareness, contrasting it with his own tendency to introspect excessively—a trait his wife humorously criticizes.

"I enjoy how today's poem makes it a goal to be keenly aware, intuitive and innate what the body gives away." (01:15)

Keramati's verses poignantly depict physical manifestations of emotional pain and instinctual behaviors in animals, inviting readers to observe and trust their body's innate knowledge without overreliance on intellectualization or external tools like technology.

Notable Imagery and Themes:

1. Hidden Pain:
   "I hide my bleeding throughout the night, pretend it does not bother me." (01:40)
   The imagery of concealing physical pain mirrors the tendency to suppress emotional suffering.

2. Therapeutic Conversations:
   "By now my therapist asks me where in my body I feel my hurt and I say my mind, but I don't know if that counts." (02:05)
   This highlights the struggle to locate and articulate emotional pain within the physical self.

3. Animal Instincts vs. Human Disconnection:
   Observations of animal behaviors—cats’ tails, mother birds sheltering young, bats sensing sunset—illustrate a contrast with human reliance on technology and logic, questioning whether modern life leads to a disconnection from our bodily instincts.

   "I want to trust the way they do moving their bodies with instincts unknown to me." (03:20)

4. Embracing Uncertainty:
   The poem celebrates the beauty of uncertainty and the natural flow of life, much like a spider releasing its web without knowing its destination.

   "A spider does not know where its web will land before releasing its thread. The wind carries it, drops it where it's meant to be." (04:10)

Reflections and Insights

Major Jackson reflects on the poem's call to embrace a more instinctual and less controlled interaction with the world. He contemplates the balance between intellectual understanding and bodily intuition, pondering whether heightened awareness leads to deeper connection or increased confusion.

"I wonder whether I am too aware or else too disconnected, though they are opposites of my own body that it confuses me." (03:50)

This introspection invites listeners to consider their own relationship with their bodies and emotions, encouraging a harmony between mind and physical existence.

Conclusion

Episode 1267 of The Slowdown masterfully intertwines the poetic exploration of Saba Keramati's "What the Body Gives Away" with Major Jackson's insightful commentary on emotional expression and bodily awareness. By highlighting the poem's vivid imagery and profound themes, the episode serves as a gentle reminder of the intricate ways in which our bodies communicate our deepest feelings and instincts. Listeners are left with a contemplative space to reflect on their own sensory and emotional experiences, fostering a deeper appreciation for the poetic journey through the human condition.

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Produced by APM Studios in partnership with The Poetry Foundation and supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

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Transcript

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[Major Jackson]

I'm Major Jackson and this is the slowdown At a public talk someone said out loud, I do not feel I have no emotions. So I write poetry to produce my emotions. Poets often think of their writing as an excavation of emotions. Because society asks us to repress our inner lives, we write to bring to surface embedded feelings. I have long espoused poetry as a means of achieving personal expression, but that poetry generates emotion in the person who does not have any emotions is new to me. Essentially, the speaker confessed to lacking sentience, that writing creates them rather than unearths them. Imagine eating a peach and not experiencing its texture, juiciness, sweetness. Only until after you sit down to write a poem. Or imagine boarding a heart stopping roller coaster that suddenly drops. But you do not feel the terror of the ride until that moment you find language to describe it. It is a wondrous idea that to write is to complete human activity. Today's poem points out to how and where in our bodies we experience the world. I'd like to believe that my senses are open as I take in music, food, travel, new adventures, new friends. I'd like to think poetry makes me extra sensory, but then again, my wife would argue I spend too much time in my head thinking my life away. I enjoy how today's poem makes it a goal to be keenly aware, intuitive and innate what the body gives away. By Saba Keramati I wear a new pair of shoes to a friend's wedding and the backs cut into my heels. I hide my bleeding throughout the night, pretend it does not bother me. It's a familiar phenomenon. By now my therapist asks me where in my body I feel my hurt and I say my mind, but I don't know if that counts. T says that it is Western logic, but I wonder whether I am too aware or else too disconnected, though they are opposites of my own body that it confuses me so, for there are things I've seen in animals that I do not see in myself. The way the cats tails point straight to the sky when I open the front door. The way a mother bird shields her young from a hailstorm, wings outstretched, risking the very thing that makes her bird. The bats under the bridge know when the sun sets without clocks with their eyes still closed. When I wanted to chase the full moon I held my phone in front of me counting the seconds before Google told me it would rise. Siri make me more animal I want to say let me trust the way they do moving their bodies with instincts unknown to me. I've seen a deer judge the ripeness of fruit with no concept of ready. I want to search how to know less, but to do so would already be a failure. A spider does not know where its web will land before releasing its thread. The wind carries it, drops it where it's meant to be. The Slowdown is a production of American Public Media in partnership with the Poetry Foundation. This project is also supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. On the [e-mail] to get a poem delivered to you daily, go to slowdownshow.org and sign up for our newsletter and find us on Instagram at Slowdown. Show.