“Fulfilled” (Psalm 1)
What is fulfillment? I was recently reminded of this poem—the first thing I ever posted on this site, and probably my favorite of all the poems I have written. It is my attempt to delve into Psalm 1. This poem … Continued
“Big Name” (#8 in the Psalter Project)
“You are holy…” “I praise your name…” Does it seem like you’ve sung the same words of praise a hundred times? This morning? A villanelle is a poetic form in which two whole lines must be re-used in a strict … Continued
Psalm 7: “Shield” (Psalter Project)
I’ve never used an actual shield…but every day I feel the need of some kind of shielding, and I started this psalm-poem thinking about that need for protection and escape. It moves on, of course, from there through all the … Continued
Psalm 6: “Emergency Room” (Psalter Project)
Some Psalms cry out in pain…we rarely sing those verses in our praise songs or print them on posters or pin them on pinterest, but the songs of God’s people are often full of agony mixed in with faith and … Continued
Psalm 5: “Spinning” (Psalter Project)
“Sweet God, turn to me, I turn to you…” From “wooly thoughts” to “echoes laid straight,” here is my version of Psalm 5, “Spinning.” (My sister Lindsay and I are writing poems based on each of the psalms in order. … Continued
Psalm 4: “Amplify” (Psalter Project)
From “speak softness when I make an ugly noise” to “amplify, great God, turn up the shine”–I love the way psalms move from one emotional place to another, like a river sweeping the reader along. Here is Lindsay’s version of … Continued
Psalm 3: “External Heart” (Psalter Project)
Here is my poem version of Psalm 3. (You might want to start at the beginning of our Psalter Project, or see all the psalms I’ve posted so far.) I am my own worst enemy. God, swarms of fears are … Continued
Psalm 2: “Necks in the Sand” (Psalter Project)
Here is Lindsay’s poetic response to Psalm 2, the next installment in our Psalter Project. (To see all the psalms posted so far, click here.) Why do they stew in their own spleen in a bath that boils but does … Continued
Psalm 1: “Fulfilled” (Psalter Project)
A few years ago, my sister Lindsay and I began writing a “Psalter” together: our own poems based on each of the biblical Psalms in order. I write the odd-numbered psalms, she writes the evens! All kinds of life events … Continued