Poetry in times of duress has the capacity to express more directly than what is possible in prose. This is because, in extremity, the veil between the conscious and unconscious mind becomes porous making the flow of deeper images more available than is typical when the rational functions are dominant. Giving oneself over to this flow of images informs poetic expression more readily because, as Joan Baez said of Leonard Cohen's songs, "they do not have to make sense."

We are in a time of extremity and duress at most every level. This is a good time, then, to try and catch that strange and often haunting influx of images coming from deeper waters and put those images into form, into poetry. This is not about good poem/bad poem. This is about hearing the images. This is why I encourage reading the poem aloud, so it gets into your ears and not just your eyes. Hearing excites the older brain more than seeing does. And it is re-connecting with our older brain functions that will be most helpful in the current time, those ways of being where our ancient ancestors spent most of their time.

So, I encourage you to send in your poems. Here is a recent offering from blog member Mike Daniel.

Little Bitty Pretty One (read while playing Thurston Harris song)

Outside known space

Separate

Did our eyes say

Something very old

Dead to us

Alive too

It just doesn't jive

Floating in 

Dynamic stillness

Only natural

Flow

like this,

Like This

LIKE THIS

Bats, chickens, pangolins, cats, dogs

Any bloody thing

Caged, crammed in

Murdered on demand

for

meat

Meat

MEAT

By animals living

Ecosystems of death

Free now

Flowing to new space

Creating relationship

Someday coming to

Stillness- death and change

Plucky little one

May you teach us

In royal style