Making Friends with Poetry
Reading, Writing & Learning in Community
Introduction to Poetry
I avoided it as long as I could,
skirted the issue like a wallflower
at my first dance, curious
from afar about such beauty
and grace, wondering at the words.
I felt unequal to the task, conversing
with verse — or worse — writing it.
Why, what if I was wrong?
I hesitated long, delayed
the appointed time of our meeting
like an obligatory trip to the dentist.
When at last we were introduced
(by a mutual friend) my fears dissolved
like sugar in a steaming cup
of tea — surprised by the sweet
welcome (never mind the toothache).
I extended my hand, enticed
by the freedom of words
on the page just so, black on ivory
a gleaming smile beckoning
me to the dance.
I raised my pen and began.
(You can hear me read this poem (with Delius’ Orchestral Works & a text message ping in the background.)
Talking about Poetry
Conversations around poetry can often be illuminating and inspiring; it’s interesting to me how the poem you wrote can land differently for the people that read it. That is the magic of poetry, how it touches people in different ways and offers more than one meaning. Gathering virtually around the poems in my book via Zoom the last few weeks have proven that; we’re learning a lot from each other, too.
When I tell people I write poetry, they usually get a quizzical look on their face or shrug their shoulders and say, “I just don't get it.” And I get that they don't get it. I've been there. It took me awhile to adopt the stance of discovery and adventure and practice and well, own the title, poet.
A book that has given me language to express the importance of imagination in all its creative forms—visual art, film, poetry and story-telling and more—is Malcolm Guite’s “Lifting the Veil-Imagination and the Kingdom of God.”1
“It is the fact of the incarnation which, itself, underpins and makes possible all the other poetic and imaginative bodyings forth in all the arts of humanity, for we are made in the image of a creator who chose to body himself forth and communicate his love.
It is not simply that we need poetry and the other arts to help us apprehend the mystery of the incarnation but that the mystery of the incarnation itself is what makes the imaginative arts possible.”
-Lifting the Veil-Imagination and the Kingdom of God, Malcolm Guite, Square Halo Books, Inc., 2021
Poetry Converts
When I started this Substack in July 2023 I decided to focus on helping people Make Friends with Poetry—not only reading it, as many folks already do, but writing it.
After deciding to leave social media last year, I was interviewed on a podcast and a listener reached out to me as a result of the episode. The listener’s name? Jody. With a ‘y.’ And of course she’s a writer/blogger in California (where I’m from) and is near my age….. BFF’s, right? I don’t often meet fellow Jody’s-with-a-’y.’
I could be making much of a little something. Okay, I am.
Anyway, the rewarding thing is, through our communication and connection, Jody (Evans) decided to make friends with poetry by writing a poem, inspired by what I’d been sharing here on Poetry & Made Things. Yay The Internet. Yay Substack. Yay the God-who-works-in-mysterious ways.
I was so tickled when her newest post showed up in my Inbox this week with a title about Poetic Pondering…. I was intrigued. She wrote this, with which I heartily concur:
“I think it's good for the soul, though, to fiddle with words in hopeful, poetic ways. If what I've ended up scratching out in this soul exercise isn't a poem, it certainly wants to be.” 2
I feel all kinds of happy that folks would try their hands at writing a poem because that is the only way to improve a craft. Practice, practice, practice.
In “Our Source and Destination,” Jody wove a journey of sorts through the seasons, anchoring it around belief, ending with these lines:
You,
the Beginning,
are the End of the story,
our Source and Destination,
whatever, we in the messy middle, may believe.
For we, Your creatures,
cannot
believe You
out of being
who
You
are
Powerful last lines in a poem always get me. “We cannot believe You out of being who You are.” Wow.
Friends, if you are practicing your art in a quiet place away from the crowd or in a noisy coffee shop, if you’re dabbling in painting, story writing, poetry-making, messing about at your kitchen table, keep at it. You never know how God can connect the dots between your work and the people on the receiving end of what you have to offer.
“…for we are made in the image of a creator who chose to body himself forth and communicate his love.” -Malcolm Guite, above
Amen and Amen. We are made for connection and to be creators to show God’s beauty to the world.
There’s no time like the present to become a paid subscriber—for less than the price of one fancy coffee drink per month. I would love to have you along for the journey to Making Friends With Poetry.
I love poetry and Malcolm Guite!
So happy you took up your pen and joined the poetry party. And that you continue to do so.
Yesterday I was talking with an editor from my journalism side about my poetry. She said she doesn't get it. I told her that's the problem—that she thinks there's something to get.
Wishing you well as you help more people make friends with poetry.