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GILL'S POETRY ENRICHES OUR LIFE

Maryanne Raphael

*Appeared in Bridge-in-Making, (India),

January-April 1998. Pages: 41-45

In addition to being a sensitive, talented, intelligent poet, Stephen Gill is a compassionate human being dedicated to making the world a better place. He is an inspiration and encouragement to other poets and writers. He dedicates his collection of anti‑war poems to all those writers/who shape their pens into ploughs/to prepare their lands/for sowing harmony and peace.

He uses imagery, tone, color and rhythm to express the subtle play of his sensibility and to intimate a reality that is denied by the ordinary world. Mr. Gill is a man of deep thinking and deep feeling. In his life and in his work, Stephen Gill struggles to help end racism, violence, famine, pollution, greed, homelessness and madness. Many of his poems are prayers that these goals may come to pass. His "Poet's Prayer" in Songs for Harmony begins: O Master:/Raise the crops of my pen/into nutrients. The poem ends:

Display in them

Your will;

fuse them with Your beauty;

Strengthen them with manna;

array them like the rainbow.

From his collection Songs for Harmony is a lovely poem: "These Children" (p. 28). He repeatedly asks God to bless all children and let them grow/ as soldiers of peace. In "Supplication to God," Mr. Gill asks God to look at His sons and daughters who are losing sanity in: that age preceding Noah,/reigning today again.. He begs God for wisdom, peace, humility and tranquillity.

The Dove of Peace includes prayers for a safe, peaceful, world. It is devoted to building bridges between nations and cultures to make the world a better place. Mr. Gill's conviction that wars are always destructive and do not solve human problems is illustrated in the following poems: "The Dove of Peace," "War is Fraud," "To War‑Mongers," "When I see," "A Question," "Domain of Peace," and "My name is Peace."

The poem "The Dove of Peace" mourns the fact that fear of peace as well as fear of war creates war-like situations. "We are Proud," illustrates how progress can be a threat to humanity and explores the many crimes committed against the earth and its people. His belief that "people everywhere want to give and receive love," never waivers. Stephen Gill has a global perspective. He praises his adopted country Canada, and writes sensitively about Asia, Africa, the United States, South America. He praises the many paths to God and reminds us, in truth, we don't need a path to God for He is always with us. His Zen poem "Nirvana" on page

19 describes:

a cabin of inaction

built with beams of silence

where

soft drops of harmony..

produce a lullaby

from the notes of now.

In "I Am Still a Man," Mr. Gill calls himself a Christian and before that, a Panjabi:

But before that

who was I?

Neither Christian

nor Panjabi

when I entered the world.

I was only a man.

He loves all creeds. His poem says, I am also/your God's child. In "Rays of Harmony," he celebrates the Oneness of the Universe as he writes: while empty stomachs hold the mast/ No Christ appears to appease the savage sea.. But he assures us that feeding the hungry is clearing the way/ for the serenity of waves/ to sing for all. In his powerful poem, "To Be," Gill wishes my poetry to be friendly,/ to pacify the tiger of violence/ and to assemble flowers of all hues/ into a single bouquet." He believes poets should never stop playing their role as peacemakers ushering in justice and peace even though their accomplishments may go unacknowledged.

Stephen Gill is a Radical Optimist always seeing the best side of every situation, always expecting the future to be better than the past but eager and willing to do all in his power to help bring this about. He has great faith in love. His collection The Flowers of Thirst uses a multitude of techniques and various forms to glorify the many facets of love. When it seems he might get trapped in Love's old cliche's, his magic pen creates a unique metaphor raising his poetry above the common crowd. For example, in Poem #30 : You are the sunshine/ I am the rains;/ we run like rabbits.

Mr. Gill's work opens the gate of appreciation of the writings of other cultures, allowing his readers to see all human beings as a mixture of strength and weakness, all sharing the same basic needs and desires. For Stephen Gill, "love is the eternal flame that knows no occupation, faith nor complexion," the power that cannot be imprisoned within human bonds, but which can melt unknown metals into one.

Mr. Gill's poems help us to overcome our own despair for ourselves and all of humanity, and to rejoice in the beauty of life and hope for the future. He forces poetry out of all the objects, surroundings, events and people in his life. His poems are strong and yet tender, mysterious at times; at others, comfortable and comforting, like old slippers to be worn around the house. But he does not allow us to relax for long for suddenly there is a scorpion of a metaphor ready to shock us into an awareness necessary for our psychological and spiritual growth. Stephen's poetry penetrates our most private perceptions. No matter how unthreatening and restful it may appear, there is always a surprise to jolt us forward, much like the power of a koan. Indeed his Haiku are often powerful koans. For example, number 34 : A root unprotected/ I need a wind/ loving and kind, and number 26 : Love:/ a flower/ among the rocks. These short poems present a clear picture and arouse our emotions suggesting a spiritual insight.

In presenting his poetry, Mr. Gill more often exacts work of his reader than he meets the reader's demands. He is not out to please his reader although he often does. He is out to awaken, to enlighten, to delight the reader long enough to get full attention so he can create enough discomfort to cause the reader to act. His poems have reverberations. They clarify our ideas of truth, of love, of justice, of life's real mystery and death's mysterious reality. His tone is often intimate, sharing his most personal thoughts, his private prayers, his hopes and dreams with his readers. And whenever he can, he takes our hands and tricks us into being his co‑workers, building a better tomorrow, creating a world where air and water are safe to consume, flowers aren't afraid to bloom in the city and war has ceased to exist, even in the worst of nightmares.

In Mr. Gill's poem "My Pets," he speaks of how: My pets‑/ remain in bed. At the end of the poem we learn that his pets are my wishes and aspirations. If we allow him to, Mr. Gill will show us how to get our pets out of bed and put to work to enrich our life.

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