POETRY. I welcome you in.
Poetry. a full word.
What are your first thoughts when hearing the word “poetry”?
Is it Shakespeare or Langston Hughes or maybe someone else?
Is it Haiku or free verse?
Maybe the response is “I don’t read poetry because I don’t get it!” Or “I love poetry because I don’t always get it and the words and phrases sound lovely.”
Whatever you feel about poetry, I invite you to try something new by sitting and lingering longer than whatever is usual for you and see if there’s something drawing you in that hasn’t been there before.
I welcome you in.
Poetry—
“literature that evokes a concentrated imaginative awareness of experiences or a specific emotional response through language chosen and arranged for its meaning, sound, and rhythm.”
Evoking awareness is the beauty of reading or writing poetry. In the practice of spiritual direction sometimes poetry is shared for the intention of inviting a lingering with words that welcomes an evocative way of listening. A way of discerning where God is in your life and how He is at work. Poetry has a way of nurturing, healing, restoring, redeeming, soothing and/or awakening us.
This month, I invite you to read a poem much like that of Lectio Divina. Find a quiet space where you are and linger by reading a chosen poem three times. Give space in-between to be still with each line or stanza or entire poem, soak in the words and imagery as you listen for God’s loving voice whispering to you.
Notice what words or phrases stand out. And within the silences, prayerfully listen and trust the Spirit to reveal, engulf, feel, and offer you consolation or release.
I offer you a poem below or choose one from your own shelf.
Or google one from the poetryfoundation.org site.
Seed
God dug his seed
into dry, dark earth.
After a sprouting up
in hopeful birth
and healing bloom
and garland grace,
he buried it again
in a darker place.
Twice rudely planted seed,
root, rise in me
and grow your green again,
your fruited tree.
I welcome you in.
Try writing a poem of your own. It may be free verse or rhyme, or something quite more.
I invite you to take the risk, be courageous, explore your voice within—God’s loving gift. Enjoy you and Him in this new togetherness.
(a poem still in progress from 2024)
Savorous Memories
oh the smell of newborn sweetness,
holding my children in their first year of life.
oh the sights from family camping trips,
pines and granite towers in the Sierra’s
to stars and sands of Sunset Beach.
oh the sounds late at night,
around summer time campfires,
giggles, singing, storytelling
fill in the wide open airs.
oh taste that large piece of chocolate flan cake from the Costa Rican cafe,
the texture and smell of flavors all coming together in every bite.
oh the small quiet moments within each day, with slight sounds creeping in
a lawn mower, birds, foot steps
water flowing of any kind.
Savoring
allows my soul to see,
soothes the rushing beats of second’s time, feels safe on the path of knowing and unknowing;
a secure strangeness.
Wholeness and savoring seem to be partners —companions of beholding time
by m r n
