Enchantment, Sweaters, Poetry, Portals of All Sorts

This morning, I wrote a poem.  You might say, "Of course you did.  You're a poet."  But I'm a poet who does more writing in other genres these days:  blog posts, e-mails, seminary writing, social media updates.  I've been here before, so I no longer fret.  I know that Poetry Kristin is always there, observing, making connections, tucking details away for later poems.  Poetry Kristin can outwait everything that competes with poetry for my attention.

I always feel like I am not having much luck creating whole poems, but this line came to me this morning, as I was getting a sweater out of the back of a closet and wishing I had a door to Narnia back there: we pass our planetary wealth in sweaters. I sat with this line--and these ideas of enchantment, sweaters, closets, cheap junk jewelry, portals of all sorts--and I slowly began to see a poem shimmering through.

Who needs a portal to Narnia when a poem shimmers in the pre-dawn?

I tend to think that I'm not writing poems, but my poetry legal pad tells a different tale.  The last time I wrote a poem was January 31--not that long ago, especially considering that was the week that I was severed from my job.

It seems so long ago, but it was only last week.

One of the joys of the Religion and the Arts class that I'm taking in seminary this term is that each class includes a close reading of a poem.  I have done close readings of poems many times, of course.  I've led close readings of poems during decades as a teacher.  But what a treat to return to it again, and with a community that knows the importance of poetry, of close readings, of knowing that art and literature can inform the theology readings we are doing.

Poetry Kristin smiles, knowing that this work too will nourish her.