#MicroPoetry|June ’17 Reflections

We are often making assumptions, repeating habits and following patterns that go unnoticed. They are neither good nor bad. Yet there may be, in such repetition, opportunities when we notice them to shift a day from bad to okay, even okay to great. That intention often takes work. In this A Deacon’s Musing, I hope that this #MicroPoetry #Verse might open that idea poetically.

I have found that often words, such as freedom and liberty, are used in a way that separates us from one another. This happen in politics, places of faith and even in families and the places we call work. For me, when there is space to dig deeper, I wonder how these words – in their fullest potential – speak to our interconnexion and dependence. Not just upon one another, but as a species and the planet we call home. This A Deacon’s Musing #MicroPoetry endeavours to capture that in this #Verse.

There is a balancing dance that too often does not seem to reach us through the din of traditional media, which often focuses on only one of the partners. We often hear about force – used against “Us” or as a deterrent against “Them” – and that paints a particular way we see the world and one another. In this A Deacon’s Musing, I am hoping to explore the softening or compassionate face of the other dancer. I hope that this #MicroPoetry #Verse offers a way to navigate through the weight too often brought to bear by focusing solely on violence.

The reality and weight of depression is – gratefully – beginning to be spoken outside of the shadowed places it too often once was relegated. How we hold and care for one another in this time in our lives – without judging or a temptation to fix – hearkens to a compassion that is free to hear difficult and awkward realities and experiences. Sometimes, hands say more than the words we use to try to fill such sacred space. This A Deacon’s Musing attempts to honour that in this #MicroPoetry verse …

When we bind, confine and limit truth into an absolute and wield it as a weapon against one another, our stories and history show that we are all diminished. This does not mean to imply that there are not definite boundaries to how we engage with civility that is appropriate and mutually life-giving.
When we can find that balance to hear in one another aspects of the Universal song, then possibility and potential are planted in a way that growth is only limited by the creativity we relationally explore. This A Deacon’s Musing #MicroPoetry endeavours to capture that thought ….

I love the image of Love as a current of water. Then I found the accompanying image of the swan embracing its chick. The rest just fell into place for this A Deacon’s Musing #MicroPoetry that hopefully links well love as an act of compassion and empathy, which ultimately embraces all of us.

In the constant lull of all of the noise, it is easy to forget or be distracted by the things that are used to separate us from one another. More pointedly, it is easy to be distracted to believe we are divide and separate from one another. Whether that is about what we believe, how we look or whom we love. This A Deacon’s Musing #MicroPoetry tries to shift the focus from the lulling siren to the constant river that is Love. This river breaks down, sometimes quickly other times more incrementally, those barriers and ultimately awakens us to One in Another.

One of the reoccurring character’s in my poetry – for decades now – has been The Poet. Most often the character is She and often is representative of the Universe, the Holy, and/or the Spirit. I like the play on ‘words’ that we are the poetic expression of an ever-unfolding reality. As words strung together, it seems that we can never be alone, either with others in the syntax of a sentence or the unfolding organised chaos that is the paradox of poetry. This A Deacon’s Musing once more evokes The Poet …

I was recently introduced to the idea of Holy Transparency and Holy Clarity. How I understand this as that moment in which doubt melts away. In particular, that moment when in community or with a trusted mentor or friend there is that ‘awakening’ or appearance of a long-awaited door. This A Deacon’s Musing attempts to capture that connexion that is both individual and yet bound with others …