Soni Somarajan - On The Wings of Imagination

Soni Somarajan says he has lived two different lives in a single lifetime. The first part is all memory and the second part is the world today. And he fears he might lose the first due to the enormity of the second. Because for the last 30 years, Soni has borne the brunt of a progressive neuromuscular disorder. Two thirds of the time, he has to make do with a permanent sidekick - a wheelchair. It's almost as if he has accessed a parallel world. In his seminal poem "Dream Selfie", he says -  The next morning, all of it comes back to me, as always. I’m running; wish I knew where. The grass is spangled dew, light twitches, ripe lemon. At the far end, the earth nosedives. What’s beyond I can’t see. With these muscles I’m pleased — smooth, speedy. I accelerate at will. No acid build, just the kick of fleeting feet. I almost fly. Wait. I can’t catch up — whispers my wheelchair. Soni Somarajan is a poet, copywriter, editor and content consultant. His poetry and writings have featured in several anthologies, magazines and journals. An alumnus of the University of Iowa's IWP Advanced Poetry Summit 2013, Soni is the Creative Head of The Quarantine Train, a poetry collective, and he lives in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.  His book of peerless poems "First Contact" is a continuing bestseller.  Welcome to Red River Sessions, which is presented by Uncut Poetry, where we talk to published poets, about their poetry, their craft and what haunts them. It is brought to you by Red River, which is the premier independent publisher of poetry books and Uncut Poetry, a much-loved poetry podcast. This podcast can be heard on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Anchor, Google Podcasts, and anywhere you get your podcasts from! Details of music used in this episode - The Forest and the Trees by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/4494-the-forest-and-the-trees License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Touching Story by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/4540-touching-story License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Heartbreaking by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/3863-heartbreaking License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Imagefilm 031 by Sascha Ende® Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/532-imagefilm-031 License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Imagefilm 043 by Sascha Ende® Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/3231-imagefilm-043 License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license The Positive Way Of Hope Piano Solo by MusicLFiles Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/7522-the-positive-way-of-hope-piano-solo License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Sentimental Travel by MusicLFiles Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/6968-sentimental-travel License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license