Despite having published a poem in Thai in her high school's literary magazine, Gem no longer feels comfortable composing poems in her native tongue. She feels overly constrained by traditional Thai poetry's strict rules of rhythm and rhyme. Instead, she finds greater freedom composing verse in English.

 

After initial feelings of hesitation about writing poems, Gem had a flash of inspiration on a business trip to India in 2003. At her hotel room in New Delhi she found a book of English verses by a renowned Indian poet written in beautiful, witty free verse. She was impressed by the crisp and poignant quality of the poems, even though they contained some minor grammatical mistakes and unusual word choice. From then on, Gem decided to write poems instead of letters in prose to share her travel adventures with her English-speaking husband. Gem has found that she can express her emotions more effectively and and portray her experiences more vividly in verse than in prose.

 

Gem regularly composes poems when inspired or confronted by strong emotions. She now has a collection of hundreds of poems that she has not published but that she and her family cherish deeply. Gem composed one of her poems as a supplement to her 2015 acrylic painting entitled ‘Transition.’

 

Transition

Constant change is certain

In transition, we abide

Moving through and passing on

Leaving places and people behind

As we lose, we gain

Moving through our transitions