The Art of Poetic Creation: Finding God in Poetry

National Poetry Month flyer / Kansas Public Radio 

Happy Resurrection Day, everyone! Not only is it Easter, it's also the start of National Poetry Month, and I'd like to commemorate that by incorporating poetry into my posts for the month of April. Poetry is a very important part of who I am as a writer. In many ways, it has helped me find my voice, and even in my blogs, it has major influence on my stylistic choices. I classify myself as a writer and categorize myself as a blogger and a poet, but before I am any of those, I am a Christian. Since this blog is called Music, Message, Messiah, I figured it would be cool to highlight poetry that glorifies God, especially since I see poetry as lyrics without melody. I won't be posting every day this month, but I'm hoping to post twice a week (pray with me on that one lol). To start things off, I thought I'd explain what poetry means to me. What better way to emphasize the meaning of poetry than in a poem?

The Art of Poetic Creation

Poetry is more than words on page. It is psalm, songs from the poet's heart to the ears of the One who hears, to the Potter who has given the clay the gift of creation.

Poetry is created from crisis, compassion, comtemplation of questions that may never have answers, problems that may never have solutions.

Poetry is praise, whether in the midst of lamentation or celebration. It is an offering up, a pouring out, of the issues at the core of the soul. The Creator, who made it possible for poetry's painful beauty to exist, is always and forever listening...

Poetry is a unique way to express yourself to God. Often, if I find myself at a loss for words while praying, I'll write down what I want to say to Him. Sometimes it's a jumbled mess (but He hears anyway! 🙌🏾) and sometimes I'm surprised to find that what I wrote turned into a poem. That's a gift within itself.