Hello, Poetry Friend
In one of these letters titled “The Sheep Speaks,” I encouraged us to write a poem from a Psalm, the way poet Sally Fisher did with “Here in The Psalm.”
It’s a practice I’ve been doing ever since, and my friend Callie Feyen took up the challenge. She wrote a masterful poem for Psalm 2.
I find it really, really hard to write good religous poetry. It’s something I’m beginning to play with, using the Psalms as inspiration, but it all feels unsteady. So far my poems are coming out differently than my friend’s, and that’s okay. Writing is playing.
Today is Ash Wednesday, when our crowns receive ashes. I love to go the school Mass, with all the little ones, squirming, and all the older ones, bored and gossiping. We won’t hear Psalm 2 today, but Psalm 51. I’ll look around and see what poem might want to crown this holy day.
Poetry Journal
Read Callie’s poem about what might compose a crown.
Jot down what you notice, what you like, what you don’t, what questions you have, and at least one way in which the poem speaks to your soul.
Read the poem again, aloud, if you didn’t the first time. Summon up your church experiences, even if they are unpleasant (especially if they’re unpleasant). What might they need you to say?
Write your own poem about this day. If you like, email me what you write.
Take care,
Megan
What have I done wrong?
Have I done wrong?
How to resolve, make amends, move forward?
The pursuit of peace is a path obscured in imperceptible truth.