April is one of my favorite months because it is National Poetry Month. I have had a love of poetry since I first read "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost and the stories and poems of Edgar Allan Poe in high school. I’m also a fan of W. B. Yeats.
In fact, I loved poetry so much that I took it as a class in college. I had a great instructor and some creative classmates. I learned so much about writing poetry and different poets. We learned about different styles of poetry and how to critique each other’s work. On the last day of class, we had scones and coffee, and our teacher bought each of us a book of poetry that he thought we would enjoy, appealing to our unique writing styles.
Poetry is such a neat art form that it can be as simple or deep as you want it to be. You can write poems that are long or short with exact rhyme or slant rhyme. They can be about all different things, like snippets of our lives, emotions, and thoughts. I love reading poetry as much as I love writing it because you can learn so much about the person who wrote it. Poetry can also open you up to new viewpoints and ways of seeing things. It can open up a new world.
Poetry is also special to me because that is how I started my journey as a published author. Over the years, I used to write a lot of poetry, especially in high school and into my mid-adult life. I wrote so much that I had ten notebooks full of it, collecting dust on my bookshelf. I’ll be honest, a lot of it was full of typical teenage and young adult issues like unrequited love, frustration, and insecurities (amongst other issues). Pretty dark stuff.
I attended a small Christian high school and sometimes I would read my poetry in class. My teacher would often ask me if I was going to have mercy on everyone. By this, he meant was I going to write something lighter or at least be happy. Still, I felt people would relate to it and that it needed to be on the digital literary shelves one day, maybe even in bookstores at some point.
On January 1, 2014, I saw a segment on CBS This Morning about an author who lost her job, wrote her first book, and published it on a platform called Smashwords. It sold 500 copies on the first day. I didn’t even know that self-publishing was a thing. That day, I vowed to publish my first book in a year. I had wanted to be an author since I was nine years old, no more putting it off.
A little over a year later, I published my first book of poetry, Lithium Dreams and Melancholy Sunrise. Since then, I have published two more books of poetry, The Safety of Objects and Shadow of Soul. Today, I still occasionally write poetry, so in celebration of National Poetry Month, here are some Christian poetry books to read:
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1. A Beckoning to Wonder by Jen Weaver
This book of poems invites the reader to see God in different ways and more vibrantly, while also issuing an invitation to know God more. If you must be refreshed and are looking to draw closer to the Lord, this is the book for you.
2. All Along You Were Blooming: Thoughts for Boundless Living by Morgan Harper Nichols
The poems in this book are about hope, grace, restoration, and healing. These poems in the book remind us that every season has a purpose. They inspire us to bloom the way God created us, regardless of what is happening in our lives. They invite us to live in the present moment.
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3. A Voice In the Wilderness: A Chapbook of Poems About God by Justin Farley
This book of poems is about Christian life and all the joys and struggles we face, including love, fear, faith, doubt, etc.
4. Gospel Poems by Donal Hill
These gospel poems will help you open your heart to God’s love and grace.
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5. Seeing Invisible Things: Poems For All God’s Children by Lisa Ambler
The poems in this book are geared toward children but are appropriate for all ages. The poems in this book address topics that children find important, including making mistakes, doing hard things, and experiencing God’s love. This book is a great way for us as adults to see the world through our children’s faith-filled, curious eyes.
6. Psalms of Nature by Martha Mazza
This book is unique because it is a 30-day photographic and poetry devotional. It focuses on the author’s journey to know God more intimately.
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7. He Giveth More Grace by Annie Johnson Flint
This book is interesting because it reflects the author’s faith in God even through tough circumstances. The author lived with crippling arthritis for most of her life. Still, she had an unwavering faith in God and knew he had a plan and a purpose for her. This is a collection of 100 poems that believers should find inspiring.
8. The Book of Common Courage: Prayers and Poems to Find Strength in Small Moments by K.J. Ramsey
This book helps people find sparks of strength in the big and small moments of life. It takes the reader on a journey through Psalm 23 and reminds us that God is with us and for us, both in the valleys and on the peaks of life. This book will guide readers in surrendering their anxiety to God, experiencing everlasting peace, and praying more confidently.
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9. The Turning Aside: The Kingdom Poets Book of Contemporary Christian Poetry by D.S. Martin
This book is about stepping out of our routines and focusing solely on God. It is a collection by various contemporary Christian poets of our time. The poems in this collection aim to draw us to God and inspire us.
10. Verses of Grace: Christian Poetry Inspired by Scripture by Christian Piper
The poems in this book overflow with inspiration drawn from Scripture. They draw on wisdom and grace from the Bible and inspire and uplift readers.
Poetry is a special kind of writing that comes in all kinds of styles and flavors. You can find poetry that will inspire and deepen your faith, make you laugh, and make you smile. On the flip side of this, you can also find poetry that will break your heart, make you shed a tear, and encourage you to ponder things. Although some people regard it as boring, and niche, I beg to differ. It is far from it. Poetry can teach us a lot about God, the world, and ourselves.
Take some time today and look at the titles above and also other poetry titles either online, at your local bookstore, or at your local library. When you find something that interests you, buy it or borrow it and see how you like it. I guarantee you won’t close the book being the same person you were when you opened it.
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Originally published Tuesday, 09 April 2024.
