How Poetry is Prayer

Here we are in April, National Poetry Month. The American Academy of Poets initiated this commemoration in 1996 as an effort to inform readers that poetry is a distinctive art form serving many occasions where speeches and published prose fall short of getting into depths of an experience that defies explanation and exists as something only a few words, well-intended, can describe. Poetry is the infrastructure that boosts the description, the narrative of what is being said because it offers the hubris, the inner voice of the speaker/writer in as few words as possible. Thus, the reader/listener of the poem walks the scaffolding the poet has provided and may even come to a different outlook on life or the subject written about. Reading a poem is distilling the poet’s voice. If you catch the metaphors and vocabulary, the melody of thought, you will walk from the scaffolding into the meaning of the poem. It may take several readings, but it will come.

Poetry is as old as writing. Ancient writers knew that feelings or emotions could not be communicated by prose alone. In fact, prose is often graced with poetic lines because prose can fall flat if it alone expresses parts of the story or the article. The Hebrew Scripture is based on poetic expression of something so deep, so loving as God’s words to us that it contains some of the most beautiful poetry ever written. The Psalms, written to be sung, reach pinnacles of loftiness such as The Lord is My Shepherd (Ps.23), The Ardent Longing for God (Ps.63), Desire for Sanctuary (Ps.84), and many more. Some of the prayers of Kings or leaders of Israel are exceptionally poetic. My favorite is Solomon’s poetic prayer in 1 Kings 3:7-9. “O Lord, my God, you have made me, your servant, king to succeed my father David: but I am a mere youth not knowing at all how to act. I serve you in the midst of a people whom you have chosen…Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.” These lines inspired me to ask for an understanding heart when I was elected to a leadership position many years ago.

The Christian Scriptures also teem with examples of poetic writing. Paul writes poetically on the virtue of love in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 concluding that only three things will last in life: “faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love.” Some scholars opine that all of John’s Gospel is a poem. And most of the epistles, including those of Peter, James, and Timothy contain exquisite poetic lines and description. 

Modern poetry has been building quite a repertoire, most of it a type of free verse. But poetry is not only verse. Shakespeare filled his great dramas with poetic soliloquies i.e, “To be or not to be…” in Hamlet. He was also a master of blank verse throughout his dramas. A poem does not need to be written in verse; in fact, modern poetry is mostly without verse, or it is hidden throughout the poem.

To appreciate poetry, one should bear in mind several points:

1. Poetry is economical in its wording. It purposely leaves out full description or argument. It leaves that for the reader to create.
2. Poetry draws in the mind and heart of the reader. 
3. A poem is the result of a poet’s experience.

Some names of contemporary poets you might appreciate reading are Mary Oliver, Denise Levertov, Billy Collins, Andrew Whyte, Amanda Gorman, Jericho Brown—to name only a few. 

April 28 will be ‘Poem in Your Pocket Day’ when we are encouraged to carry our favorite poem in our pocket and ask friends or associates if you could read the poem to them. It will generate conversation on the meaning and beauty of poetry. This could be a form of community-making as well as getting people to appreciate poetry.

Reflection

I believe poetry can make us better people. It stops us in our accelerated life; it stops the whirling going on in our minds and souls. Poetry demonstrates that a few well-chosen words are so much better than a treatise or a lengthy document. It leaves us with something to think about. It makes us ponder truths that are captured in so few words. I hope this final week of Poetry Month you will do something different and treat your soul perhaps to a lecture on poetry at your local library, or to purchase a book of poetry, or better yet: organize a group to discuss poems in your living room. Take time to pray and reflect on biblical poetry, especially the ones mentioned above. Soften your soul with good poetry. Select a favorite for ‘Poem in Your Pocket Day.’

Here is my favorite Haiku poem: “On Leaving the House of a Friend”

Out comes the bee

 From deep among peony pistils

Oh, so reluctantly.

I have too many ‘favorite’ poems to print here but they have graced my life over many years like prayer. 

May all of you enjoy poetry especially as you pray with select poems. Have fun doing this. You are dear to me—all of you and my Anonymous Angels.