Spiritual Inspiration

Without entering into a lengthy and probably controversial discussion of spirituality or beliefs, I want to discuss how I have been inspired and share some of my writing with you.  

My spirituality or feelings of connection with my God come at times when I am contemplative, under stress, relaxed or are unexpected.  During some of these times I find myself talking to him and even creating something in my mind.  Do you know those times when words just start to form and you have to write them down, those times when you are talking out loud to yourself?  Those are the times when I know I am being inspired to write.  So, I write.

Unfortunately, I can't remember exactly what was going on in my life when I wrote this, but I called it 'A Psalm' for a reason.  When I was first discovering my faith as a Christian, I read the Psalms A LOT!  I connected to them because they are poems, song lyrics, direct messages to God.  I wanted to have (and still want to have) a directed link to God.  David wrote many of the psalms as his expressions of great emotions toward God.  Sometimes he was angry, sometimes he doubted, sometimes he expressed deep faith and love.  The overall feeling of this psalm is a desire for connection, not wanting to be left behind or forgotten.  I can see a strong desire for hope and belonging.  Also, I believe that I needed spiritual strengthening.

A Psalm

By Kimberly L McClune, January 18, 2013

Diffused light from the bright morning star

Emanates through a maze of frosted branches.

Fingers of illumination pattern the blue tinted ground.

A glowing countenance gracefully peers from beyond

Bearing a measure of hope to my longing my soul.

Oh, light that brings peace and love

Renew my spirit, fill the depths of my soul!

Shine your light in and through me.

Reveal your truth to my hardened heart.

Shower me with fulfillment and joy!

Do not deny a weakened spirit.

Open a portal to the inner sanctuary

Hardened by disappointment and fear.

Pour out your soothing balm to cleanse

And heal the wounds left by an ordinary life.

Oh, mighty and righteous giver of peace,

Wondrous lover of needy and aching hearts,

Let your love reign in my gasping soul,

Lift up my wounded spirit,

Wash me clean of all wrongdoing.

Heavy heart, wounded and sore

Hold fast to that one remaining thread of hope.

Don’t loose your grip, but cling to it

As if nothing in the world can move you.

For this is the path to enlightenment.

Hope does not fail, love does not leave

Peace is never far away.

All around are signs of faith and healing.

Open the heart, the mind and the spirit

And all shall enter in, together at last.

Whether you are Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, or have any other faith, we can all relate to similar spiritual needs.  We want the belonging and the comfort of a faith in something greater than ourselves.  I encourage you to embrace your spirituality as it relates to writing and see what you come up with when you bring the two together.  Writing as an expression of yourself, for some, is the only way to write.  For others, writing can be a way to escape yourself.  

Culture in Poetry

Being partly Irish, I am drawn to the overall culture and all things Irish.  I love music so I listen to Irish tunes quite often.  I have an extensive collection of Irish poetry and stories and love to let my eye wander over pictures of the Irish landscape.  Oh, I neglected to mention my love of Irish food!

I’ve been reading some of the Irish poets lately, W.B. Yeats, Thomas Moore, Patrick Kavanaugh and Oscar Wilde to name a few.  In my poetic contemplation over these beautiful works I began to notice a great sense of the Irish culture itself within them.  Each piece gave me a different sense of who the Irish are, what is important to them and how they live, think and believe. 

Some themes I’ve culled from the works I’ve read are the importance of family and relationships, love of the land, the importance of history to everyday life, strength of spiritual belief and a great love of life and living.  The Irish are a very proud and expressive people.  They carry their hearts on their sleeves and live every moment as if it’s their last.  Humor sustains them through thick and thin and their ability to survive is second to none.  All of these qualities of the Irish come through when reading their poetry.  I consider them to be some of the strongest poets our world has produced. 

If you’ve ever wondered why the Irish are so much in love with their homeland, then you’ve never been there or lost yourself in pictures of the beautiful, magical landscapes and architecture of this incredible island. 

In his poem The Lake Isle of Innisfree, W.B. Yeats expresses his desire to return to the peace and beauty of his home from the wild and raucous streets of London. 

 

“And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.”

Poet Patrick Kavanaugh expresses the deep love of a man for his mother in his poem In Memory of My Mother. I love his optimism for seeing her once again when he, himself, passes into heaven and his wonderful memories of her very essence. 

“And I think of you walking along a headland
Of green oats in June,
So full of repose, so rich with life –
And I see us meeting at the end of a town.

On a fair day by accident, after
The bargains are all made and we can walk
Together through the shops and stalls and markets
Free in the oriental streets of thought.”

While these are only a couple of examples of great Irish poetry, you can find many sources for them in your local bookstore or on various websites like the following:

www.irishcultureandcustoms.com

www.poetryfoundation.org

www.poetrysoup.com

Find some beautiful images of Ireland here:

Christian McLeod Photography: www.cmcleod.com

Inishowen Photography – www.inishowenphotography.com

Images of Mayo Landscape Photography of County Mayo, Ireland by Eamonn McCarthy– mayo.photium.com

Irish Dew Landscape Photography – www.irishdew.com

Try an Irish dish from:

www.donalskehan.com

www.yourirish.com

Perhaps you have a favorite culture or are from a particular culture that also has beautiful poets.  Do some reading and see if you also find that the culture of the poets home is carried into the work of the poet.

Reading to Write

Yes, I believe that you must read if you are to write.  You might ask why.  If you did, then my short answer is that there is much to be learned about an art by experiencing how others have produced their version of that art.  If you did not ask, then the previous sentence is of no importance to you.

Moving on, here are a couple things I’ve gleaned about writing by reading.

Style or Voice:

After reading some of my favorite poets, Frost, Whitman, St. Vincent Milay, Sandburg and Dickinson (to name just a few) I discovered that each has a different style, despite writing in the same poetic form.  For instance, if you read one of Shakespeare’s sonnets and then a sonnet by Sir Thomas Marlowe or Ben Jonson, the feel will be different.  They’re different people using the same poetic form.  However, they each write with their own style.

This realization made me want to find out if I have a poetic style and what that is.  My style is my own and I don’t know how to describe it to you.  If you’ve read my blog and the poems interspersed herein, you should be able to discern it.

Phrasing and Rhythm:

There is a rhythm to the way people write.  I see this plainly in Shakespeare's plays.  I can feel the movement and the scene unfolding by listening with my inner senses to the rhythm of the words. The way the words are linked together in phrasing has a certain feel that differs from his contemporaries.

Read with Diversity:

So, reading anything can give you information, inspiration, intoxication and increase your imagination.  Don’t become fixated on reading poems to try to improve your poetry.  Read anything that interests you.  Perhaps you like mysteries or Stephen King novels, but write very lyric poems.  Without judgment, go with the rhythm of the words fluttering around in your brain, heart and soul.  They will come forth in your own special style.  

Write with Diversity:

We are wordsmiths, are we not?  Just as a blacksmith must know how to make various tools and objects, so must a writer.  I dabble in several different forms of writing and differing genres.  Writing poems strengthens my writing skills for other forms and vice versa.  

Stretch your wings and see where reading can take you.