soulsculpting

Like most people I know, I don’t consider myself a poet. But,

I’ve written poetry, occasionally – on and off for years. Mostly off.

I’m currently reviving the practice because I’ve found that it’s a powerful tool for discovery.

For many years I’ve been a journaler using prose to ramble around with my thoughts. A few months ago I decided to experiment with poetry journaling. The differences between the prose and poetry journals surprised me.

First, I noticed that the poetry journals felt richer, deeper, and more insightful. There’s something about the process of poetry making that helps me see things in fresh ways. One of the reasons for this freshness could be the unusual images that pop up for me as I write. These images invite new configurations of thought.

The second difference I noticed was that poetry journals cut to the point more quickly than the rambling prose journals. With poetry I have to pause and search for the right word. Putting the right word in a brief poem can express an idea with less ink.

The third difference I noticed was the gift of discovery. Multiple times, as I wrote about a complex issue, I discovered a new perspective and a promising way forward.

My journal poems are raw, usually free verse with only a little bit of erasing and reworking. They don’t need to be perfect or even good. It’s the process of the poetry that matters most.

Sometimes I play with a more constricting form like haiku or rhyming. Form can be a friend – a constriction that helps me work a little harder to find what I really want to say.

Every now and then I will actually rework a poem to make it feel more like a keeper. I have no intention of publishing or even sharing the poems. They are just my heart at play.

Faith

My poems are very entangled in my faith. Like the psalmist David, they are frequently a form of prayer for me.

David used poetry to:

Express his yearning for God.

 “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.” Ps. 42

Vent his frustrations with God.

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?”  Ps. 22

Plead with God for help

“To you I call, O God my rock; do not turn a deaf ear to me.”  Psalm 28

Declare his gratitude to God.

“Praise be to the Lord, for he heard my cry for mercy… I will give thanks to him in songs.”

David does not hold back. He releases the full range of emotions in his poetry. Using metaphors, similes, and Hebraic poem structures, David created poetry that became song lyrics. These song poems of faith continue to speak to us today.

As therapy

Some people use poetry as a form of therapy. Clinicians find that writing or reading poetry can help us give a voice to what we could not say.

Poetry as a therapeutic tool can:

Help us work through trauma or complex emotions
Improve our self-awareness
Construct meaning

Poetry is also a tool to bring delight. Neuro-imaging shows that poetry has the ability to light up our brain’s reward center and give us goosebumps of pleasure.

Our brain engages poetry differently than prose. This difference can open up a new way of feeling and seeing.

Soul Sculpting Project: Launch a Poem

Get some paper and pencil or a device.
Invite God’s good company to join you.
Spend 3 or 4 minutes making a poem .

What to write about?

Whatever is on your mind
The world around you at this moment
The memory of a time in your life when you felt awe and you said, “Wow!”

Four ways to Launch a Poem

Adjusted Prose

Select or write a short piece of prose.
Rewrite it as a poem.

Possible adjustments:

Change the line breaks and lengths.
Delete unneeded words/ sentences
Add new words
Change the order of sentences.

Found poems

Using paper that you can cut up or books that you copy from:

Select poetry or prose already written – by yourself or someone else.
Use a pair of scissors to cut out phrases and words that call to you.
Glue those phrases /words on another sheet of paper to create a poem.

Select words from another piece of writing and rewrite them in new combinations for your own poem.

Metaphor

Metaphor: Language that directly equates two things. (God is a fortress)

Metaphors engage regions of our brain that can help us see a broader reality or possibility.

Make a list of metaphors Examples: God is my rock, I am a rock, My hope is a rock
Select one or more metaphors from your list to further develop into a poem.

Haiku

To write haiku make

Five syllables then seven

Ending with five more

A standard format for a 3 line haiku is 5,7,5 syllables. Historically, one of the lines included some reference to nature.

Bonus Launch:

My favorite poem launching tip comes from poet David Whyte. He finds that good poems begin by asking a Beautiful Question.

A few weeks ago I led a class on time orientation. It had nothing to do with poetry. As I was cleaning up, I noticed that one of the participants was lingering so I walked over to chat with her. The first words out of her mouth were, “I’m not a poet, but”.

She then proceeded to read me a poem that she had just written about her relationship with the future.

Most of us may not consider ourselves to be ‘a poet’. But perhaps — we can still write poems — because as Mary Oliver says of poetry:

this isn't a contest
          but a doorway