Poems as Prayer

In honor of World Poetry Day (and the fact that we are studying poetry in Hebrew!), I thought I would share some of my favorite poems.  Many of you all know my love of literature and language, and poetry is no exception to this love.  To be seeing and reading (or at least trying to) poetry in an ancient language that still comes alive is such an exciting thing!  

The poem we translated and read yesterday is one most of you might be familiar with, Psalm 1.  Here it is in Hebrew:

Blessed is the man

        Who does not walk in the counsel

of the wicked

or stand in the way of sinners

        or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,   

        and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water,

        which yields its fruit in season,

and whose leaf does not wither.

        Whatever he does prospers.

Not so the wicked!

        They are like chaff

        that the wind blows away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in

the judgement,

nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

        but the way of the wicked will perish.

                                                ~Psalm 1

A beautiful reminder of what it means to walk in the way of Lord.  

Poetry has been for a long time a way for people to artfully express praise and prayer to God.  Just as some see God in other mediums of art, poets have such a wonderful gift of capturing God through the use of words.  I was introduced to the poet Gerald Manley Hopkins by my professor yesterday when he read the following poem as our opening prayer, Pied Beauty:

Glory be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
    For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
    And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
    With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
                 Praise him. 

 What I love about this poem by Hopkins is how he captures the glory of God in what might seem small and mundane things, but as one who was privileged to sit outside in the sun yesterday while studying, I was made more aware of this glorious creation God has given us. 

While some of our teachers might have taught us that there is bad poetry, I think any poem that is expressing oneself freely in praise, thanksgiving, despair, or need to our God is a good one.  Just as I've told my youth there is no such thing as a bad prayer, I think the same with poems.  

One of my favorite poets of all times is often not taken "seriously", yet if you mention his name, I guarantee majority of people's eyes will light up with delight in remembering his works.  Shel Silverstein is his name and my favorite poem is "Hug O' War".  It was printed and posted in my room in college for all FOUR years.  I used to say this was my "mantra" and in some ways it still is.  I am not a fan of conflict and to this day hate playing games where there are losers.  Silverstein captures this somewhat childish innocence so perfectly and gives voice to the idea of peace.  (If this is too big of a stretch for you, that's ok...it's just my interpretation of a poem...I'd love to hear yours!)

Poetry has been able to give voice to so many people, actions, and even things in our world, from the ancient Psalms of David to the sonnets of Shakespeare to the silliness of Silverstein. On the local NPR station, every morning at about 10 til 10am, they play the "Writer's Almanac" which is hosted by Garrison Keillor (another favorite!).  It includes facts about writers and such on this day in history, and normally concludes with a poem.   I would encourage you to visit the blog here and read today's poem by Michael Ryan, entitled "Garbage Truck". 

 As you go out into the world today and do what you always do, my prayer for you is two fold:

- that you would take time to stop and notice the mundane

- read a favorite poem and maybe just think on it

If you get stuck on trying to think of a favorite, just open the book of Psalms or you can visit The Center for Public Christianity where they have compiled some of their favorite poems "of a spiritual bent". 

Blessings! 

Katy

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.^®  (from The Writer's Almanac")