About Poetry

THE CHARM OF POETRY
Poetry has charms that prose never approaches but in exceptional cases. There are elements in poetry altogether lacking in prose - the obvious meter and rhyme, but also beauty, strength, romance, inspiration, and freedom, to name but a few. Freedom to escape from the bonds of linearly written paragraphs, all straight and at attention and marching in a row, and flow in varied meter, lines per verse, rhyming scheme, format, and layout. There are few limits here.

Whereas both prose and poetry are linear, poetry has added dimensions. It has height, it has depth, it adds visual appeal and, when read, aural charm. It has passion and pathos. It has strength and beauty. Poetry can roar like a lion or whisper like the breeze. It can flow like a river. It can climb mountains, It can fly.

A poem can paint a picture and tell a story in a few words and wrap it all up in a pretty ribbon. Poetry goes beyond the imparting of information - something we're too much accustomed to in this information age - and reaches beyond the mind to touch the heart with inspiration.

There are elements of the Gospel well-suited to poetry. David's Psalms were written as poetry. Many poets through the ages have captured the heart and soul of the Gospel in poetic form. And many of those poems have been turned into songs.

But a poem without music can stand on its own with just words. Beautiful words. Charming words. Like a tree without leaves, a poem without music has its own allure.

Poetry provides a gentle counterpoint to the full-tilt praise we experience in church today. I don't think we'll always be yelling at God in Heaven; I don't think we should now. I think we should experience tender, intimate moments with Him, and poetry is well suited as an aid to that - silent yet expressive, quiet yet laden with emotion, tender yet evocative.

MY FAVORITE POETS
My favorite poets are John Wright Follette, Gerhard Tersteegen, Frederick William Faber, Christina Rosetti, George Matheson, and Madame Guyon. These are all poets in the classic sense, employing traditional craft and skill to their art. They all wrote prolifically; it seems to be a fountain that, once started, flows continually, as attested to by my many poems on this site.

CHRISTIANITY AND THE ARTS
The church needs to embrace the arts. Perhaps it once did, but, if that ever happened, the arts have fallen on hard times in church. Worship and preaching are most prevalent, but there are elements of the arts that could and should enhance ourselves services and devotional times. Art, poetry, special music - God's people are creative (rather, God is creating through them)  - provide added dimensions to worship, but these are done mostly in private and not at present shared openly as part of our communal life.

WHY DON'T I PUBLISH MY POETRY IN BOOKS?
I have published one book of poetry titled "Fresh Springs," available on Amazon in print and Kindle formats. However, I have chosen not to do more books for two main reasons. The first is that my constitution does not allow me to do the selling and marketing effort entailed with print publishing; at this point in my life I can't handle any stress or pressure.

The second reason is that I'd have to publish an awful lot of books to get all my work in print. As you can see, I write more than I could put into books.

I realize that all the poets I read are printed, but that's because the Internet hadn't been invented when they were alive. So I'm hoping that this approach will accommodate all my work for posterity.

FORMATTING
I wrote these poems on different devices over the years - some on a laptop and others on a smartphone. As a result, some poems will display better in portrait mode and some in landscape.

Parts of some poems may be slightly off kilter if viewed on an alternative device. I used fancy, decorative initial letters on some poems I created on my laptop but for the life of me I can’t get them in the right place when viewed on my phone.

Please ignore these little nuisances and enjoy the poems themselves even if  the artwork is a little off. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.