Created by filmmaker Dastan Khalili, DiaVerse is a new style of poetry where the only rule is all stanzas must have a maximum of two words. 90 Two, Khalili's first book of poetry, contains ninety of Khalili's DiaVerse poems and combines Khalili’s poetic verses with his digital artwork and imagery, each conveying a sensation of inspiration that comes to life with each poem. Says Khalili, "DiaVerse makes writing poetry accessible to anyone, anytime, anywhere."
As the world becomes more computerized and attention span decreases globally, Dastan Khalili’s groundbreaking idea is a perfect, well-timed addition to the art of poetry. I would never have guessed that such profoundness and depth could be found in poems with not more than two words per stanza. Dastan’s DiaVerse gives the audience more space to personalize the poems than traditional poetry styles. The words ignited in me feelings, thoughts, and memories at a rate much higher than any form of writing I’ve come across. For example, reading the lines “Unlocked moment” and “Cracked open” from the poem, Mind fold, took me back to opportunities and friendships I wished for and eventually gained.
In 90 Two, Dastan Khalili presents a nice collection of poems in his unique style, which he termed DiaVerse. The poems all have something in common, which is that they all have a maximum of two words and nothing more. These poems focus on almost all spheres of human life and sometimes the divinity. Dastan Khalili also inputs Chinese philosophical concepts like Tao Yin Yang in some of his poems, alongside his belief in supernatural beings and powers. The themes on which these poems are based range from the human mind, abstract ideas, death to nature, human emotions, mortality, immortality, religion, and even seasons. Read this book to appreciate the author's ingenious creativity.
Looking at your different achievements, you appear to be quite productive and busy. How did you manage to fit writing poetry in with the other demands on your time?
The muses make me do it! My success as a screenwriter and director, in particular, my most recent feature The Way, which I am honored to say has won 50 awards, my family life as a husband and father, and running the nonprofit humanitarian institute Calearth https://www.calearth.org/ keep me quite busy. Writing poetry is a very personal internal space that gives me freedom away from my normal day-to-day. I l do love all the work that I do and poetry fulfills a very personal inner need to expressing freely. It doesn’t require organizations, sets, teams etc. and in that way it’s very beautiful and immediate art. In fact it is my first art! I always said I’m actually a poet first and everything I do feeds that. It’s fascinating how my DiaVerse poems take form. I’ll start musing on a subject and the line suddenly starts coming quickly. I usually have to stop what I’m doing, grab a pen or my iPhone, and write it down. In some cases I just speak it out load and say the poem. After that it’s gone into the ether.
