photo by Arpan
Poetry In Motion
Some people may not feel that running has anything to do with poetry or creativity in general. Yet Sri Chinmoy, who was an athlete of the highest order from his youth and throughout the rest of his life, also created a non-stop outpouring of creativity in the fields of visual arts, poetry, prose, plays and songs. The beauty and rhythm of many of these creations have inspired runners around the world to run, literally, around the world. For more exciting details about that kind of running you can go to the website for the World Harmony Run: http://www.worldharmonyrun.org/
For the 3100 mile runners, the poetry and rhythm are in their hearts and legs as they circle the half-mile loop daily for up to 18 hours. Sometimes they listen to music, stories or poetry on their portable Mp3 players. Other times they just create their own rhythms and poetry through their own motion and movement.
After all, the beauty and power of our own solar system comes from the circular motion of the planets around the mighty star we call the Sun. They are dedicated to the same orbit, endlessly and effortlessly, day and night with no vacation. I am sure we all have something quite profound to learn from this type of poetry in motion.
This kind of dedication is expressed simply yet powerfully in the above poem that Sri Chinmoy wrote for July 5, in 2006. He wrote a poem a day for the 3100 mile race that year. The next year he started composing songs daily for the runners and even personally performed live on various instruments on the race course. This consciousness and energy is still as powerful as ever even in Sri Chinmoy’s physical absence.