To Poetry and Magic

My poems create their maker
(I’m taller than I think I am).
When I search among fields of choices
to call forth dialogue from noise,
I grant peaceful power conduit
to create myself by prophecy
and reckon myself by words and worlds
beyond my reaching
(I’m smaller than I think I am).

Let me be for these words as all for all:
a passage from passing to passing;
and let me drag along meaning through dogged mud
drying always as it is to dust.

I’m grateful to be embarking on this process of self-creation with those of you who read this blog.

It is indeed the case that “my poems create their maker.” When writing a poem, it feels like it initially “arrives to me” from alterity; and once written, it becomes to me a sign post or landmark in my journey: a point of insight crystallization that returns to my memory at opportune moments during my daily life.

At the same time, the writing process is one of internal dialogue, a constant back-and-forth of assertion and doubt. I write what “arrives” naturally, and then I question: why this particular word? Does the poem capture the mental image that I have had in a way that can convey it to another mind? How can punctuation and capitalization help? What are alternate readings of this?

This is “to call forth dialogue from noise.”

At the same time, the poem must be written from a state of “flow.” I must be as a conduit, not the sole creator. I cannot embody the ego as I write. I must notice the egoic questions—How will I be received? How does this reflect my intelligence?—relax into them, and then let them dissolve.

This is to “drag along meaning through dogged mud.”

The beautiful thing about a poem is how it breaks the rhythm of ordinary linguistic patterns in the mind. The margins serve as a frame that demarcates a sacred space where meaning and beauty may be found. By asking not only what the poem means but how it means and what it means to oneself, one can take a minute to reflect on emotions and mechanisms of mental imagery that are typically taken for granted.

I’m privileged to be able to share my poetry with all of you.

My plan is to continue sharing a poem per day from my collection, I’d also love to feature and analyze poems or writing from readers, posted anonymously if the author so chooses. It would be amazing to create a place of mutual inspiration where ideas can flow freely between minds.

If this interests you, please email trinitarianmystery@gmail.com.