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Category: Poets’ Pavilion

Crackin’ the Poetry Books

Published December 17, 2021 by h. renell


A wise man will hear and grow in learning. A man of understanding will become able to understand a saying and a picture-story, the words of the wise and what they mean.
Proverbs 1:5-6 NLV

When I was ready to take writing poetry seriously, I went to my default setting of books. By the time I was finished with one, it was liberally highlighted with either pencil or a yellow highlighter.

Poetry for Dummies was my first. It gave me a broad overview of everything poetry. Then I read any recommendation lists or reader reviews to find others to help me along the way.

In order to learn, we must also take those first baby steps with our pens, pencils, or keyboards. The same applies to our Christian lives — at some point beyond reading the Bible, we must step out in faith.

Poets' Pavilion

BibleVersesBookshelf

Writing and Group Dynamics

Published December 11, 2021 by h. renell
Women reading and writing on a table
Photo by Alexis Brown on Unsplash

For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,
Ephesians 2:14 NASB

Writer’s groups are varied, depending on the genre and type of critique. Some are all-purpose, and some confine members to a single genre. Some are in-person, and some are video/online conversations. Some prefer the solitary way of books.

I have been a member of a few writer’s groups. Most of the time, the members were supportive of our pages.

A few times a disruptive person would join the ranks and cause discord. Often it was the subject matter or crowding the table/computer screen. Or both.

Our minds were joined to improve our writing craft. And to foster Heavenly creativity, the disruptive writers needed to be given other options.

Poets' Pavilion

BibleVersesCommunityFriendship

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Published December 4, 2021 by h. renell
Photo by Nijwam Swargiary on Unsplash

For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.
Hebrews 4:2 NIV

Broadside ballads were the street literature of the time. The news of the day and ballads – sometimes illustrated with woodcut illustrations – lined one side of the printed page.

One gentleman expressed his outrage, however:

The vulgar ballads of our day, the “broadsides” which were printed in such large numbers in England and elsewhere in the sixteenth century or later … are products of a low kind of art, and most of them are, from a literary point of view, thoroughly despicable and worthless.1

Though the ballads were considered doggerel, the broadsides did document the culture of the time. The performance and publishing of street art are timeless and tactile. No matter the era.

No matter the means, no matter highbrow or lowbrow, God works through it all. Proclaim away!

1Francis James Child from The English and Scottish Popular Ballads.

Poets' Pavilion

ArtistsBibleVersesCommunityHistory

The Exposure of War

Published November 27, 2021 by h. renell
Photo Credit: Photo by Stijn Swinnen on Unsplash

So Hanun seized David’s servants and shaved off half of each one’s beard. He cut the lower part of their robes off so that their buttocks were exposed, and then sent them away.
2 Samuel 10:4 NET

Wilfred Owen is best known for his WWI poem “Dulce et Decorum Est.” (Latin for “It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country.”) However, he also wrote the poem “Exposure,” which details exposure to the elements during a time of war.

When we write poems about war, we bear witness to what we feel and experience. War is not just kinetic. Our wounds can be inflicted by words or actions that are meant to shame and humiliate us.

King David’s army lost the battle, but they won the war. We win our battles by acknowledging the God who fights our war.

Poets' Pavilion

BibleVersesHistoryMilitarySurveillanceTechnology

Cry Out Hope!

Published October 1, 2021 by h. renell
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

It is because of the Lord’s lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed,
Because His [tender] compassions never fail.
Lamentations 3:22 AMP

When you think of poetry in the Bible, the Psalms usually come to mind. However, the book of Lamentations is a poetry of the psalms too — a poetry of grief, written by Jeremiah after Jerusalem’s destruction in 586 B.C.

Sometimes grief enters a national stage. Many poets over the centuries are known as national poets writing grief on a national scale. America’s poets from war-torn times include Walt Whitman’s Civil War poems and Philip Freneau’s Revolutionary poems.

Jeremiah, even in his lamentation, wrote a psalm of hope. Amidst all the doom and gloom, the poets also should be the counterweight of hope.

Poets' Pavilion

BibleVersesHistoryMilitary

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