Gazing in the Mirror

April 10 - The Poetry of the Soul

To elevate the soul,
poetry is necessary.
~ Edgar Allan Poe

To be as one, beyond
the bonds of time and space,
To overcome the bondage
of the human race, And to
leap with Trust, undaunted
and free, into the deeps of
that infinite sea.
~ Ernest Holmes,
from a poem titled "The Call"

I have long appreciated the efficient use of language that is poetry. The unique way that poetry can express deep insights by the use of analogy. It seems to me that poetry is the language of the soul. The lyrics of music are only poetry that can be uttered to a musical tune. As I wondered what to write about this morning I came across several snippets of poems and realized how there is this pause within me when my soul apprehends the meanings behind the words. Meanings that often seem meant just for me alone and by their meaningfulness to me are for me alone and yet are universal at the core level. Voltaire said – "It is as impossible to translate poetry as it is to translate music."

Poetry is like a dream that is crystal clear until we try to communicate its meaning in words then the whole effect becomes more nebulous and ethereal. At its best poetry flows so gently and with such perfection that it goes down into us like clear, cool, spring water. The poet Allen Tate said – "To communicate effectively is to love." When we communicate with a surprising use of language as so often happens in poetry there is an aliveness that is Spirit communicating with us through the poet's efficiency. Somehow poetry focuses on the things that really matter in a world flooded with content that is common or lacks any real purpose.

In a world where consuming and acquiring seem often the only purpose in living poetry requires us slow down and observe the world and life at a different and in a more timeless pace. There is so much about this stunningly beautiful planet that deserves our savoring. Poetry is a way of savoring in words that sing to our heart's minds. Poetry has about it the power of the creative Spirit. When our lives are caught up continuously in doing there is no time left for being in awe of the wonder all around us. Poetry catches that wonder and freezes it in time for us so that we may delve deeply into its beauty time and again.

William Wordsworth laments in his poem "The World Is Too Much With Us" that "Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers / Little we see in nature that is ours" ... "For this, for everything we are out of tune". William Ayot says "a poem is a gift, offered free from any expectation of return; a gift which connects us to others, to the world, and to some alienated parts of ourselves" and describes it as operating "in a different, parallel system of exchange, where 'value' is replaced by 'worth'." While a poem may have little monetary value it has a huge amount of power to move people in significant ways within themselves.

Ayot reminds us that poetry can "re-awaken our compassion, remind us of our grief, re-confirm the presence of love, or death, or any of the things that invisibly matter in our lives". Poetry is an understanding of what is not visible, by giving it the gift of what is most beautiful in language – how we use our words – more than the actual words themselves. The best poems, with their memorable ways of using language, may reside in us for many, many years, only to arise from within us when the moment's need is greatest, to express for our hearts what cannot normally be said in everyday conversation.

Sometimes it seems as if there is less poetry now; but I don't think that is so. We worry about the youth with their texting style of language and hurry. Yet mature adults have always worried about youth until those youth become mature adults to rediscover the values that don't have a price tag attached to them. I've been noticing lately that spirituality is one of those values that youth rarely have time for. So busy getting and spending. As the end of life approaches however the focus changes and we begin to wonder what it was all about and did we miss its greatest significance when we were busy similarly. Robert Frost described it as "Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words".

~ perspective

I love poetry because of
the way the words sound
to my hearing, my heart and
my mind.
Just like music, poetry
expresses that which is
difficult to translate into
words but somehow the poet
has the gift to manage to
do just that regardless.
Painting is poetry made visible
and poetry is beauty translated
lyrically.
Poets are dreamers who see
the world in the way that
most of us wish we did.
Trees are the Earth's poetry
in their symmetry and twisting
expanding expressions.

#analogy #beauty #clarity #communication #creativity #dreams #efficiency #maturity #music #youth