Adoring Alliteration Adventures

During a poet's workshop yesterday I discovered a love of "form" i.e. writing poems with some constraint to them, rather than simply off loading my soul's mumblings without a care for metre or rhyme (see 'Poetry - Intellectual vs Soulful' blog post). It was rather refreshing and I discovered a craving for experimenting more with word creativity. This is what he said about alliteration: 'It's a battle between you, the writer and what you want to say, and the constraint (i.e. having to write with only words beginning with a certain letter). The skill is to make it look like you are writing what you want to say (rather than your words having been obviously directed by the constraining letter).' I had a go and here is the result: 'W' being my spontaneous, unplanned constraining letter:

Wild are the winds of my wanton words,

Wrapped around Wednesday's wicked wrangling of wanting word whores.

What, when, who and why,

Waste not words or do and die.

Copyright EH 2012.

He also spoke of 'Oulipo' the French poetry group founded in 1960, which sought to add constraints to writing in a reaction against the Surrealists. Their idea was that the more constraints you have, the deeper into your consiousness you will go in order to write around it, hence you are freer than the Surrealists ever were. How fascinating! He offered us a poem where we had to guess the constraint. No-one managed it but once said it seems obvious. Only the vowel 'e' was used. This is called Univocalism. I'll offer an attempt of my own when I can get my head around that one...

In The Eye of The Storm

I have had a wonderful week: two days visiting my God son followed by a four day study residential with WTC. Studying God academically can be, for some, the path to creating a very dry faith based on intellectual debate and reason. However, I have found it to be nothing further than the truth. Studying Theology has simply brought me closer to Him. The increasing intellectual comprehension has merely served to widen my awe and appreciation of Him. Getting to know Him more can also help you discover more about yourself. It is exciting to say the least. In the past year I have met Him in ways that I had never met Him before, and I am enjoying continuing to listen out for His voice, in whatever form that may come. It also gives me great joy to serve Him in what little ways I can too. Yesterday's final morning worship session was one of those such moments. I offer the poem below to those who have requested it, which tied in with a picture that was shared from another student of the faculty and the teaching that we received on learning to live with 'waiting' and the process of being transformed through tough times:

In The Eye of The Storm

I stand in your praise

In the eye of the storm.

I’m feeling the strain,

My body is worn.

My mind is cluttered.

In my prayers I have muttered

Words of seeking

Of searching the dawn,

The answers, the guidance,

The knowledge, the sign,

To guide me to

The path that is mine.

I seek your face,

I seek your will.

And until then,

In the eye of the storm,

I stand still.

Copyright EH 2007. All Rights Reserved.

Rubbish, I can't sleep: 03:00 a.m.

Oh, Why Can't I Sleep?

Oh, why can't I sleep?

I haven't even had a peep

Into the world of darkness.

No sign of slumber

To take me under

To its lair.

Oh how I wish I was there,

But too awake to sleep

Too tired to reap

Any benefits from this late hour.

My dreams turned sour

Of a good night's rest

To ensure I'm my best

For tomorrow.

Copyright EH 2012. All Rights Reserved.

Retreat into Nature & #treetuesday

I recently visited Michelham Priory and its gardens. I haven't managed to go on a quiet retreat this year. So this provided a short but welcome chance to let my thoughts wander.

Silver Droplet

Silver droplet twinkling in the sun,

Your life only just begun

Lest the sun and its hot rays

End your days.

Yet you shine with all your might

In this glistering light,

Faithful to nature’s ways.

(Michelham Priory Gardens 03/08/12)

(Copyright EH 2012. All Rights Reserved)

I also note that on Twitter it's #treetuesday today! Unfortunately I am too tired and it's almost too late (23:49) to join in. However, here is a tree poem for the sake of being thematic:

There’s an Old Tree

There’s an old tree

Reaching towards me.

Its branches are strong,

Its reach is long,

But there’s a gap between it and me.

For it is I that needs to be

Walking more closely

To its girth,

To its range of earth

That I spy so wondrously

Spread.

One would think it be dead,

But the arms that are reaching for me

Do so so gently and lovingly,

It’s like it knew I was there.

With a branch to spare

For me.

(Michelham Priory Gardens 03/08/12)
(Copyright EH 2012. All Rights Reserved)

Olympic Fever

Winning Words is an effort to use the Olympics as a spring board for poetry in public spaces. In it's own words: "Winning words is a project to enhance peoples lives through poetry. Using the Olympic Games as a spring-board, poetry will leap off the pages and into the physical spaces that surround us all."

On another note, the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, has created a specially commissioned poem for the Olympic Games entitled: "Eton Manor". Another poem "Translating the British, 2012" was also written to capture the Olympic mood. Far be it for me to criticise a poem from someone deemed to be of such high standing in the literary world. However, Rev Dr Peter Mullen has done just that. Check out his scathing commentary. Evidently poetry is truely subjective!

Doodling brings power to words

Brilliant! Doodles are justified! Per Sunni Brown on TED.com. In Sunni Brown's words: "Doodling is an incredibly powerful tool..." She also states that doodling, redefined, is "to make spontaneous marks to help yourself think. It has a profound effect on creative problem solving and deep information processing....doodling should be leveraged in precisely those situations when information density is very high and the need for processing that information is very high." I often doodle whilst writing a poem, praying something out or studying. See past attempts on the 18 Feb 2010 blog post. Even the simplest doodles can add power to words and vice versa.