This July 2021, Lyricality’s Founder and Director Tracy Rittmueller shares 4 poems that reveal some similarities between poetry and prayer.
Like prayer, some poems express awe, an emotion that connects people more deeply to their inner selves, other beings, nature, and for many, to a Higher Power. When I first encountered Jerry Wellik’s “Sky Trees Phoem” I questioned whether that “h” was a typographical error. As a mistake, it could serve as a little hint of wabi-sabi, the Japanese philosophy that respects imperfections as natural, something to be accepted, allowed, and even celebrated. Imperfections enlarge our understanding of life, the way open-ended questions bubble through our consciousness to expand our thinking, making it livelier. I’ve noticed that when I look at something with close-minded certainty, convinced I know all there is to know, it makes me rigid, and deadens my sense of wonder. Reading poetry teaches me humility. To enjoy poetry, we must approach whatever seems incongruent or strange with curiosity and wonder. This allows us to unwrap the “aha” and “awe” moments contained within a poem. Reading poetry helps me practice the skills of curiosity and wonder, and that increases my awareness, gratitude, and delight. It turns out that Instagram and Pinterest poets use the hashtag (#phoem) to tag posts pairing digital photos and poems. In my more arrogant I-have-a-degree-in-English-and-I-know-stuff days, I would have unquestioningly seen the “h” as an error and changed the title of this week’s offering to “Sky Trees Poem.”
Tracy Rittmueller
Sky Trees Phoem
by Jerry Wellik
Looking up
into the heavens
through trees
leaves you pining
for even more
ways to explore
the vast unknown
***
Jerry Wellik is a teacher, storytelling/storylistening poet. His passion is helping others and himself draw forth the best versions of themselves by helping each person write and rewrite his/her life story. Jerry is a husband, father, brother, uncle, friend, Spring Forest Qigong Master as well a storyteller, poet and retired Special Education teacher. “Sky Trees Phoem” by Jerry Wellik appears here with permission of the author.
Would you like inspiration for writing short poems in the Japanese Haiku tradition (like Jerry Wellik’s “Sky Trees Phoem)?
Download our free eBook, Haiku: a simple practice to increase your awareness, gratitude, and delight
