Poetry Guides To A Love of Questions Engaged

Prosed poetry is often the format through which I write in my personal journal. It’s a lot of observations. About what is near to me, inner and outer. I often write and rewrite in the spirit of “note to self — remember this today.” Or, “note to team — what if this guided us today?”

My prosed poetry so often sources from my listening habits, wanting to hear a clarity from within. I tend to write reminders to guide life lived with courage and clarity of heart.

The images above are compelling to me. From a beautiful and moving weekend in Midway, Utah, a short drive from where I live. Autumn leaves. A creek flowing. A blue sky compelling. Loving company. All of which helped create this prose, these notes below.

Stay steady.
Follow what brings life and joy.

Appreciate beauty.
Welcome what gives breath and belonging.

Follow what flows.
Into the inspiring patterns.

Trust that it all invites contribution,
and alway has.

Love it that every moment
inherently invites a now, and a next.

The poetry so often guides to the questions for me. It’s one of my favorite things to pivot from poetic expression to a question that engages myself, the individual, or the group. I tend to pick one and let that be enough to begin for some circled listening.

What holds you steady these days?
In what ways are you experiencing life and joy?
What have you appreciated lately that is beautiful to you?
In what ways are you finding breath and belonging?
What do you notice lately that flows so naturally?
What inspiring patterns are you living or compelled to live?
How is it that you are currently trusting your contribution or the contribution of others?
What invitation are you loving now?
What is this moment, this very moment, inviting you to?

Yah, the questions are abundant. They invite story. They invite witness. They invite noticing. They invite becoming. The ability to ask the questions of myself and of others is so often what I rely upon in helping groups move to more wisdom and kindness, to more helpfulness and life-giving practice.

Into the deeply personal, yet also, so universal. Into the leaves. Into the creeks. Into the blue sky of the beautiful humans that we are.

2 Replies to “Poetry Guides To A Love of Questions Engaged”

  1. What is this moment inviting me to? Helpful questions and process. I am being nudged toward journaling something that has given way to an emptiness. As one who also journals in poetic form the process of identifying the questions emerging will add richness.

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Gifts of Circle - Question Cardsasd
Gifts of Circle is 30 short essays divided into 4 sections: 1) Circle's Bigger Purpose, 2) Circle's Practice, 3) Circle's First Requirements, and 4) Circle's Possibility for Men. From the Introduction: "Circle is what I turn to in the most comprehensive stories I know -- the stories of human beings trying to be kind and aware together, trying to make a difference in varied causes for which we need to go well together. Circle is also what I turn to in the most immediate needs that live right in front of me and in front of most of us -- sharing dreams and difficulties, exploring conflicts and coherences. Circle is what I turn to. Circle is what turns us to each other."

Question Cards is an accompanying tool to Gifts of Circle. Each card (34) offers a quote from the corresponding chapter in the book, followed by sample questions to grow your Circle hosting skills and to create connection, courage, and compassionate action among groups you host in Circle.

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In My Nature
is a collection of 10 poems. From A Note of Beginning: "This collection of poems arises from the many conversations I've been having about nature. Nature as guide. Nature as wild. Nature as organized. I remain a human being that so appreciates a curious nature in people. That so appreciates questions that pick fruit from inner being, that gather insights and intuitions to a basket, and then brings the to table to be enjoyed and shared over the next week."

This set of Note Cards (8 cards + envelopes)  quotes a few favorite passages from poems in In My Nature. I offer them as inspiration. And leave room for you to write personal notes.

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Most Mornings is a collection of 37 poems. I loved writing them. From the introduction: "This collection of poems comes from some of my sense-making that so often happens in the morning, nurtured by overnight sleep. The poems sample practices. They sample learnings. They sample insights and discoveries. They sample dilemmas and concerns."

This set of Note Cards (8 cards + envelopes)  quotes a few favorite passages from poems in Most Mornings. I offer them as inspiration. And leave room for you to write personal notes.

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