Maureen Alvares has put together the different phases of her life into poetry. The collection of works releases today
DIANA FERNANDES
NT NETWORK
Maureen Alvares is not shy to say that she has put her pure and unfiltered thoughts into the poetry she has written for her new book ‘The Seasons of Her’. And she hopes it will help readers acknowledge and accept their own selves, as they are.
With a career as a teacher and nearing 60 years of age, her decision to put the book together came about after a conversation with her son who encouraged her to celebrate her 60-year milestone.
“My son and daughter read some of the poems. They said it hit them in the gut while some have pinched where it hurts,” she says.
The first part of the book is based on her life from childhood to a teenager. She recalls this period as not being easy but calls it a time where she sensed the most emotions for the longest time. In the second part, which covers her life as a growing adult, Alvares says she grew more aware of her feelings.
The third part is her life uptil now and gives a glimpse of life as a teacher, wife, mother, and grandmother. She describes the poem as being “of no rhythm, not even a blank verse, just bubbling with what I’m feeling that comes out on the page”.
She recalls a time in 1985 when she participated in a play in a lead role. At the time, she had a tissue and a pen in hand and ended up writing two poems of the emotions she felt at the time. One was a completed piece, while the other just had a sketch. But she still has the tissue she’d written them on, and both have found a place in the book.
“There was another time while I was teaching in school where I saw some students hanging around the school with a sense of uncertainty on what to do. I was instantly transported to a time when I was a teenager with the same feeling, and it was something I wanted to write about,” she says.
And Alvares is very clear about not wanting to seek validation from readers. “I’ve put down what I felt. If you like it, that’s good, if you don’t, that’s also okay. I think when you reach a certain age, and in my career as a teacher, I am just not looking for recognition. My greatest badge of honor is when my student does well in life and comes back to thank me,” she says.
This way of thinking, she feels, came from maybe five years ago after her husband had a stroke. “Post that, I stopped colouring my hair, and one day I was told that I was beautiful and looked zen. This made me realise that I have validated my acceptance of who I am and I like the person I’ve become. As a sole caregiver to my husband, I saw how hard he worked to recover, and I am so proud of him,” she says.
And that’s the message she wants to share: “Live your life being true to yourself. When you look at yourself in the mirror, look at the person you want to see, not the person people want you to be.”
(‘The Seasons of Her’ will be launched today, 6.30 p.m. at Casa Araujo Alvares, Loutolim)
