Honest poems have power, even at funerals!

 

Many of the earliest written poems commemorate a life or death that impacted the poet. Numerous examples can be found online, ranging from elegant eulogies to sentimental rhymes. For instance:

I’m There Inside Your Heart
Author: Unknown

Right now I’m in a different place
And though we seem apart
I’m closer than I ever was,
I’m there inside your heart.
I’m with you when you greet each day
And while the sun shines bright
I’m there to share the sunsets, too
I’m with you every night.
I’m with you when the times are good
To share a laugh or two,
And if a tear should start to fall
I’ll still be there for you.
And when that day arrives
That we no longer are apart,
I’ll smile and hold you close to me,
Forever in my heart.

 

That poem may be just the kind of poem you’d like to write, and many do, which is fine, but it doesn’t seem truthful to me. Like, do we really feel closer to someone who’s deceased? Is their presence felt as frequently as the poem suggests?  Or would you prefer for a poem to get “real” and be honest? I would. For example, consider this poem, also in the public domain:

Let Me Go
Author: Christina Rossetti (1830—1894)

When I come to the end of the road
And the sun has set for me
I want no rites in a gloom filled room
Why cry for a soul set free?
Miss me a little, but not for long
And not with your head bowed low
Remember the love that once we shared
Miss me, but let me go.

For this is a journey we all must take
And each must go alone.
It’s all part of the master plan
A step on the road to home.
When you are lonely and sick at heart
Go to the friends we know.
Laugh at all the things we used to do
Miss me, but let me go.

 

That example reminds us to ask:

 

• What do I want my poem to bring to others who also mourn?
• What characteristics or accomplishments can the poem commemorate?
• What factor caused the death? long or sudden illness? accident? age?
• What genuine comfort can my poem offer?
• What words might help build a bridge for estranged family or friends?
• What do I wish I had said or not said to the deceased?
• Will other people be likely to feel what I feel?

 

Years ago, I wrote the following “felt” poem, which was later read at my sister’s funeral. Then, last week, I read it at the graveside service for my daughter and her son.

 

Expiration Date

 

I can't seem to get over your dying like that.

Things I thought I knew about you

did not include this option –

not so soon.

 

No longer am I satisfied

with nebulous concepts

or indefinite infinities.

I want to know, precisely,

how much bone you have retained

and whether anything was gained

from being good.

 

Should I still hope you'll wait for me?

If so, where will I be inclined to find you –

behind which cloud or nebula?

 

Tell me, how does it feel

for each cell to unloosen

into dust?  And, for what

indeterminate time

does rust remain?

Will my foot still ache

from that day I walked,

barefoot and careless,

over a high threshold?

When I dare again to speak,

will everyone hear, exactly,

what I most meant to say?

 

Mary Harwell Sayler

[The first two poems are in the public domain, which means you're free to use them if you acknowledge the source. However, if you want to include my poem in a service or any printed matter, please ask first for my permission. Thanks and blessings.]

 

 

 

 

Reviving our Uncommonly Used Senses

 

True or not, many people, myself included, think common senses has long been declining. However, uncommon sense has seldom exceeded the norm – at least not beyond childhood when everything was new.

 

Children notice, explore, and investigate through their senses. When we were kids, we probably did too. We touched the roughness of asphalt pavement or dad’s day-old beard and felt the smoothness of a glass window or the softness of an elderly arm.

 

We noticed how the smell of air changed from before to after a storm, and we breathed in the odor of brownies baking or sweet clover on a summer day.

 

We tasted the sharp tang of a lemon and cold sweetness of ice cream, and we listened for the song of a wren or the sound of a coming train.

 

Our eyes took in everything beautiful, everything misshapen, everything out of place. Some of us even had the ability to sense the mood of a sibling, parent, or teacher, and we could readily recognize the variations of tone in a dog’s bark.

 

Lord willing, those senses remain available to most of us, assuming we choose to train ourselves to tap back into them. But, why bother?

 

Straining for imagination doesn’t add honesty or realism or provide the best way to identify with readers. However, simply paying attention to what we see, feel, taste, hear, smell, and sense will elevate our poetry – and, indeed, all genres of writing – from the common to the uncommon. Haiku, especially, requires observation, for example:

 

Heavy fog hung low,

shrouding the sky with a veil

ripped open by rain.

…

Memory flickers

like an old movie reel – off

and on or broken.

…

Longer poems can also result from paying attention:

 

Clarity

 

A moment of thankfulness intrigues me

by its rarity. What’s the problem here?

 

Sitting on the deck, I’m hardly aware

of the blue heron staring at the pond,

 

searching for some deep meaning.

Instead, I notice the sun glaring in my eyes,

 

the tin roof of the new house across the water

reflecting all around me, the pesky mosquito

 

buzzing for warmth before I slap a warning,

but then comes the dawning

 

of beauty,

of birdcall,

 

a hum of music,

a note of thankfulness.

 

Mary Harwell Sayler

from poetry book

A Gathering of Poems

 

 

Most of my favorite poets are close observers, such as those discussed in the previous posts linked below. Their brilliant descriptions and fresh figurative language make us want to read their poetry again and again:

 

Mary Oliver

Wendell Berry

T.S. Eliot

Rainer Maria Rilke

Charles Wright

Pattiann Rogers

 

If you’ve discovered poets whose poems ignite your enthusiasm for observation, or reawaken your senses, let us know in the Comments below. Thanks.

…

Playing with the Alphabet

A few months ago, I posted “ABC Poem of Good News,” but we’ve talked about alphabet poems aka abecedarian poems before that. So, today, I revisited John Drury’s book, The Poetry Dictionary, published in 1995 by Story Press. 

Flipping through the pages, I saw his inclusion of “Alphabet Poem” with an uncommon take on the subject. To illustrate, here are a few of my favorite lines from that poetic entry, “A Lowercase Alphabet” by David Young:

 

c mouth, moon, riverbend

…

i the levitation of the spot

..

k where three roads almost meet

…

m comb from the iron age

..

v the hawk above the valley

 

Undoubtedly, I read those delightful lines years ago because they most likely influenced this playful entry in my The ABC's of Poetry: A Dictionary for Children and for Fun.

 

Starting an Alphabet Poem in All Caps

 

A = Side view of a roof or a swing set in the park

B = Owl eyes staring sideways in a cartoon in the dark

C = Pour that much into my cup and please add nothing more

D = That whitener made my teeth so bright, I'm giggling on the floor

 

Besides much needed levity (hey! that’s important) you might ask, “What’s the point?” For one thing, the format of an ABC poem can act like a structure that channels a river of creativity. Or, in the following example, I used the alphabet as a means of listing what being a Christian means. (Yes, I know. Few enter that narrow way, but one can hope!) Your choice of characteristics will likely differ, but my list below might give you the impetus to start your own list on this or any other topic:

 

Accountable

Biblical

Caring

Discerning

Encouraging

Forgiven & forgiving

Grace-filled

Hope-full

Inspired

Joy-full

Kind

Loving

Merciful

Necessary

Obedient

Prayer-full

Quickened

Reborn

Spirit-Filled

Thank-full

Understanding

Versatile

Worship-full

X-ed out of sin

Young-at-heart

Zealous

 

An alphabet poem can also be a means of expressing a serious topic with each line giving readers a cause to pause and absorb what’s said. For example:

 

Abecedarian on C Street

 

A workman's

Bandana

Comes with

Dirt

Enough to

Fill a

Gourd. Does his

Head ache

In the          

Jibes of suited employees

Known to have

Legal documents in

Most of their

Nailed-down pockets

Or computer-chipped

Pockets or other pockets, nightly combed?

Quietly,

Riveting

Strengthens a hard-working man, who

Takes a big yellow

Umbrella in his

Velvet-topped hand – the palm well-

Worn with calluses – and, without one

Xenophobic thought of anyone or anything

You might discuss in a whisper – praises rain in his

Zanily beautiful dance.

 

by Mary Harwell Sayler

 

Thanks for reading. If you have a particular poetry-related topic or form you would like to see discussed on this site, just let me know in the Comments below. I hope you’ll also Subscribe to this blog, so you don’t miss a thing – and so I don’t miss you! God bless.

Writing a Sestina

After recently revisiting sestinas in an un-recent book of poems, I decided to give this rather complex form a try. In case you’d like to do the same, the unrhymed pattern goes like this:

• ·      Thirty-nine lines
• ·       Six stanzas (verses)
• ·       Six lines ending in six words that rotate in end-line position before completion in a tercet or envoy of three lines using all six words

Confusing? Yes, but seeing how the end-line pattern goes will help:

1. ABCDEF

2. FAEBDC

3. CFDABE

4. ECBFAD

5. DEACFB

6. BDFECA

7. (envoi) ECA or ACE

Since I decided to write a sestina about life in a more trusting time, I needed six words able to support the poem’s sounds, sense, and meaning, so I went into a stream-of-consciousness mode, let groups of relevant words come to me, then wrote them down without censoring myself. Any adjustments needed became obvious after the poem got underway.

If I had adhered strictly to traditional rules, the end-line words would repeat according to the above pattern. However, some poets (myself included) use occasional substitutes with similar sounds. Therefore, with slight variations, these six words got me going:

 

A – gathered, B – yard, C – over, D – song, E – laughter, F – home

 

Clover Chains

On Summer evenings when children gathered

like bees on white clover in our front yard,

we joined hands and sang, “Red Rover, come over,”

but I don’t remember the end of that song.

We played, and we sang amidst peals of laughter

until the stars flickered, and Some called them home.

 

Neighborhood kids showed up at our home –.

outdoors or in – where young children gathered

and even the shyest child dropped her guard.

A small record player turned out favorite songs,

and we danced until the music was over.

 

No one was eager for playtime to be over,

nor be in a rush to hurry on home.

I wish I’d remember the end of the song.

I wish I could be where young children gather

and play in white clover on their front yards.

I wish this deep hush would ring out with laughter.

 

But we grew up, unsure of what’s after

with our carefree hours of fun feeling over

and white clover wilting on Some other’s yard.

We bought our own homes, sought unlimited loans,

had children in game rooms where young adults gathered,

but few could remember the words to the song.

 

Discordant music seemed harmoniously wrong,

and sharp wit and irony dulled levity and laughter.

In polarized groups young people gathered,

wondering if, soon, the world would be over

or if someone would rob our well-guarded homes

where bees seldom wandered into manicured yards.

 

Sometimes the changes in life seem too hard

to remember the words to harmonious songs.

Yet love still abides in the happiest homes,

filled with good grace and mercy and laughter

until, silent, the breath of this life is over,

and we find peace where loved ones have gathered.

 

Surely, angels, with heavenly song, will gather

to welcome us home, calling out, “Come on over!”

as clover-filled yards await our sons and daughters.

©2025/04, Mary Harwell Sayler with photo of my very rough draft

ABC Poem of Good News

 

A few days ago, I posted “God messaged me through music” on my blog, “In a Christian Poet-Writer’s Life.” That article mentioned hymns and song lyrics as my first introduction to poetry. By middle school, however, biblical psalms became an important and ongoing part of my poetic education.

Poems in the books of prophecy also occur as discussed on “The Poetry of Biblical Prophets.” Those poems written in the Hebrew language used poetic practices addressed in “Techniques in Bible Poetry,” one of which is the abecedarius also known as the “alphabet poem.”

That unique form originated in the Semitic language in the Bible as a means of instruction, for example, Psalm 119, which teaches us about God’s law and its importance in our lives. Since that psalm goes on for a few pages, its ABC form might not be as useful for memorization, but the mnemonic aid might work for other ABC poems, such as Psalm 25, Psalm 34, and Proverbs 31 description of the virtuous wife. Regardless, the abecedarius helps us to be focused on what we’re reading.

To my knowledge, the New Testament did not carry on this tradition, perhaps because it was written in Greek, rather than Hebrew. But, thinking about all this made me want to give a NT version a try, which resulted in this:

ABC Poem of Good News

Almighty God speaks to us in the
Bible. Blessed and beloved
Children follow God’s will:
Do to others as you want
Everyone to treat you.
Forgive others as
God forgives. Our
Holy Father reveals Himself
In inspiration and His Son,
Jesus Christ, Who shows
Kindness,
Love,
Mercy.
Nothing can separate us from
Our Lord’s love.
Prayers keep us close. Be
Quick to praise God. Be
Ready to
Share His Good News. Be
Thankful in and
Under all circumstances.
Voice your love for the Lord.
Worship God, Who
X’s out sin.
You are loved! Be
Zealous for Jesus.

 

©2025, Mary Harwell Sayler

 

How to Make a Good Poem Better

The ease of publishing our own blogs, websites, and social media posts have encouraged many poets and writers to get their work out there for the general public and/or specialized groups to see. While this provides a welcomed outlet for self-expression, feedback from readers, promotion of a cause or mission, and the incentive to keep writing, it’s also resulted in unsubstantiated “facts,” opinions best kept to ourselves, and some really sloppy writing!

If that smushed your toes, I’m sorry about that, but I truly hope you’ll show your work respect by checking info, using good grammar, and learning to say what you want to say in a concise and winsome manner that shows an awareness of your readers. These tips for poets might help writers in all genres:

• Write as you always have. Then put the work aside and go onto another poem or project.
  
  
• When you’re pretty much forgotten what you said and how you said it, go back and read your work aloud, paying particular attention to the sounds and sense of what you’re saying.
  
  
• Pretend someone else wrote those lines! Then read them again.
   
• If anything causes you to stumble, take that as a clue to self-edit.
   
• Read the poem aloud again to hear if you repeat what you’ve said. If so, pick the best phrase or line.
  
  
• For poems longer than a dozen lines, get radical! Cut unnecessary words. Tighten the lines. Poems that go on and on usually lose their impact – and your readers!
  
  
• As you revise your work, use a light touch and save the heavy rhymes for humor. Too many rhymes jammed into a poem or repeating the same sound again and again get monotonous. Worse, such rhymes typically twist a sentence into something that makes little sense. To be blunt, they’re a way of showing off!
   
• Sometimes it helps to wean yourself from rhymes or any other technique you frequently use and write something totally different. For instance, if you’ve been writing long poems, try writing haiku or other traditional form that confines your work to a particular length.
  
  
• Read poems by other people – lots of poems! An anthology is a good place to find your soon-to-be favorite poets.
   
• Strive for excellence, and keep on writing! 

 

 

©2025, Mary Harwell Sayler

Highku: for lovers of God

[Note: The following comes from the Introduction to the new book, Highku: for lovers of God.]

Several years ago, poems began coming to me in the traditional 5/7/5 form of haiku or senryu, but they weren’t consistent with the traditional content of fleeting seasonal scenes or sudden insights. Instead, these three-line poems focused exclusively on God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – most often in 17-syllable Psalms, Proverbs, prayers, or praise.

Such poems seemed to need their own name, and, initially, “aahcoo” came to mind with “aah” as that “ah ha!” moment of insight set to the coo of a dove. However, the name sounded too much like a sneeze, which just didn’t have the dignity required to honor our Most High God.

And that was it! “High” for the Highest and “ku” as a nod to the traditional haiku form with occasional exception in the modern style of fewer syllables.

This month, it occurred to me that I might have enough Highku for a new book, and, yes, I did! So, this week, Amazon informed me that Highku: for lovers of God is now available in all three formats: hardback, paperback, and ebook!

I pray each poem blesses you so much, you’ll want to share the book with others and read the poems as part of your prayers, meditations, or daily devotions.

May the peace of God be with you always in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

The ABC's of Poetry: A Dictionary for Children and for Fun

  

[From the Introduction to The ABC’s of Poetry: A Dictionary for Children and for Fun]

Poetry and young people make great friends! Even the youngest child responds to voice, tone, and musicality, delighting in the catchy sounds of rhyme, rhythm, and refrain. As language skills develop, most children also find it's fun to play with words, and poetry lets people of all ages do just that.

To help young readers easily explore the many sides of poetry, this book has easy-to-find-entries, arranged alphabetically. Each A-Z topic includes a pronunciation guide and a brief definition with poetic examples from the works of present-day poets or the public domain. To encourage readers to find more info on unfamiliar terms, small caps in the text point to a related topic or a poetic technique covered somewhere else in the book.

At first one topic may seem harder than another, but most can be understood, enjoyed, and practiced by elementary or middle grade school students in a classroom or home alone on their own.

Besides helping young readers to explore poetry, this book aims to aid lively discussions with your students, children, or neighbor kids. As the text guides this timeless adventure into language, the classics might get clearer, new poems get written, and young artistry get ready to bud! Anything can happen, so don't be surprised if someone you know falls in love with poetry. I did as a young child, and, oh, how I wish I’d had this book waiting for me – as poets of all ages now do, thanks to you!

[Examples of entries]

accent   [Pronounced ACK-sent.] In any language, people place an accent on syllables as they speak. For example, the word, "accent," has an accent or stress on the first syllable but not the second. The pronunciation guide beside each word in a dictionary shows you where the accent goes. That information helps you to speak correctly. It helps you to write poetry too. How? An accent gives a word its beat. Combined with other words on a line, this brings rhythm to your poem. In fact, a big difference between poetry and other types of writing is that a poem usually has more accents, which makes more rhythm on each line.

…

beat   [Rhymes with eat – sweet!] A healthy heart goes tha-THUMP/ tha-THUMP. That beat is good to hear! Poets who want that rhythm use iambs in their poems.

Like a tha-THUMP, an iamb has two syllables. The first syllable has no accent. The second one does. Put several iambs together, and the beat sounds like a heart. You can clap your hands and tap your foot to the beat. But it also sounds like a nursery rhyme! So most poets will change the beat a little bit.

…

cadence   [Pronounced KAY-dense.] As you talk, your voice goes up and down. Some words sound soft. Some sing. Some have a strong beat. In poems the beat makes a kind of music. You can hear it in the Bible. You can hear it in free verse. You can hear it as people talk.

Poems with rhyme have cadence too. But rhymes can get loud! Cadence is easier to hear if words do not rhyme.

…

clerihew   [Pronounced KLURR-eh-HUE.] This humorous verse has two couplets of two lines each. The couplets rhyme in a pattern or a rhyme  scheme of aabb. That means lines one and two make rhyme A. Lines three and four make rhyme B.

The first rhyme includes the name of a person. Often well-known, that name makes an end-rhyme for one of the first two lines.

To write a clerihew, put yourself into it! Think of words that rhyme with your first or last name. Then say something funny about yourself. For example, a name that sounds like "sailor" might make you think of someone who loves to be at sea. Not me!

Mary Sayler

will merrily say her

stomach waves with motion,

sailing on the ocean.

…

iambic pentameter   [Pronounced i-AM-bick pen-TAM-uh-ter.]  In accentual syllabic verse, any five feet on a line make pentameter. If three or more of those feet are iambs, you have iambic pentameter. If all five feet are iambs, you have ten syllables on a line.

The beat then sounds like this:

ta-TUM/ ta-TUM/ ta- TUM/ ta-TUM/ ta-TUM.

Say ta-TUM aloud five times. Of course, it's silly, but here's the thing: Once you hear that cadence coming into a poem, you'll know iambic pentameter by the sound of its footsteps.

…

syllabic verse   [Pronounced suh-LAB-ick.] For this type of poem, count the number of syllables you place on each line. Some poets use a form with a particular number of syllables. For example, haiku has a count of 5, 7, 5 syllables on three lines. A cinquain has 2, 4, 6, 8, 2 syllables on five lines. Follow those patterns. Or design your own. Your syllabic verse can have any number of syllables you choose. That number can change from line to line or stay the same.

…

tongue twister   A tongue twister is alliteration  gone wild! You can write one with vowels. But consonants work better. They get loud! For this example, I used the consonant, "r."

 

Rory writes riddles really well.

Ruby raps rhyme and rhythm.

Ruby writes rap and rhythmic rhymes.

Rory fiddles with riddles.

Read fast. Do the R's trip your tongue? That's half the fun of a tongue twister. The other half comes from playing with sounds. Be silly! Tongue twisters make sense of nonsense!  For example, "Suzy sells sea shells by the sea shore." That's funny when you think about it. Why sell sea shells where people find them, free?

…

vowel   [Rhymes with towel.]  The letters a, e, i, o, u, and, sometimes, y, make vowels. Every other letter in the alphabet is a consonant. In English, you need at least one vowel per word. If you repeat the same vowel sounds on a line of poetry, you get assonance.

This brings a sound echo that's quieter than consonance. To hear this for yourself, read aloud the tongue twister entry. Then meet me back here and say: "Ah!" Eh? I? Oh! You! Why? Heed the soft voice of vowels. That's Y.

…

For more fun with poems, I hope you'll order The ABC's of Poetry: A Dictionary for Children and for Fun - and give it a starry review! Thanks and blessings.

Mary Harwell Sayler