God and Girl–Chapter 13

God and Girl is my first novel, written in 2015. I'll post it, a chapter a day, over the next few weeks.

Monday, oh wonderful Monday, here again.  I seem to have no memory of what happened before lunch, including lunch now that I think of it.  I thought it was probably because Ellen is absent today, along with her Mom.  I’m not sure why and she hasn’t returned my text from earlier this morning.

Hopefully, Poetry class will wake me up.

Mr. Johnson seemed quieter than normal as I walked in.  He was hovered over his desk reading something, apparently deep in thought.  He didn’t even look up when my chair squeaked as I sat down. I took out my pad and pen and waited.  It seemed like a very long time but a glance at the wall clock revealed it was only a couple of minutes.

“Good afternoon.  It has been several weeks since we started school and we have moved along quite nicely.  I’ve enjoyed reading each of your poems. Today, I’m going to give you my “Waking Up” speech that I give every semester. I want to try my best to wake each of you up to the real power and purpose of poetry.”  Mr. Johnson said.

“If you let it, poetry can truly change your life.  Would you agree with me that each of us is on a journey? It is rather simple to look backwards, over our lives, and see where we have been.  We probably cannot make sense of why our lives have taken the paths they have already taken.  But, looking forward is not as clear.  It is rather mysterious.  Some of us, maybe most of us, don’t really know where we are heading, what we really want out of life.  Many of you may think, what’s the rush?  I’m in the ninth grade so I’m just going to coast along.

Think with me, if you will, about what truth means to you.  You may think and believe that you know some truth. Truth may or may not be important to you.  But, let me promise you, as you grow older you will want to know more and more.  Of course, there are the age-old questions of ‘Where did I come from?  How did I get here?  What am I supposed to do with my life?  Where am I going?’ and these are all very interesting and important questions.

I believe poetry can become your framework, your way of both asking and attempting to answer these questions.  Not only these age-old fundamental questions, but pretty much any question you have.

Poems don’t have to be about truth.  You already know this.  They can be about anything.  They can contain half-truths.  Most importantly, they can contain your truth, what you conclude is true.  This may certainly change over time, say, over the course of your life.  Having confidence in how you feel, even though you may somehow know that you are missing some important, or vital information, can make a dark day in your life less dark than it would be without poetry.

Remember, there is only one rule in poetry and here it is: there are no rules in poetry.  You should have learned that the first day of class. With this rule always whispering to you from the back of your mind, you can create a thing of beauty, a poem that helps you answer the question or questions you need answering at that very moment in your life.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  Poetry, your poems, will not all be about these life questions.  But, my “Waking Up” talk today is limited to talking about showing you a powerful way that poetry can help you find your bearings and your pathway.

Let’s look at an example, one I’ve used many years in this class.  Please know that I don’t mean to poke fun at anyone whether they are religious or not, whether they are science fans or not.  My example is just for illustration purposes only.

Imagine you are religious, you have grown up in a religious home. One day a friend tells you your religion is full of holes, that it isn’t true.  Your friend goes on to tell you that you and chimpanzees came from a common ancestor and are therefore close kin.  Now, again, please know that I have used this example for at least six years—way before Dr. Ayers came along and started exposing our students to evolution.  By the way, a long time before you, Ruthie, were here—so I’m not picking on you for having grown up with a pastor dad in a religious home.

Let’ go back to my example.  So, your friend has basically called you a quack, and an apelike creature of sorts.  You may ponder this little conversation for days, you may be worried, or unsettled about it.  You may dismiss your friend’s statements as totally untrue, lulling yourself to believing that you know what truth is, and that you certainly know more than your friend.  No matter.  If you want, you have a way to deal with these questions.

You find a quiet and private place, take out a sheet of paper and pen and draft a poem.  Here are a few lines:

God is truth.

Adam & Eve are real.

Really?

I’m no ape.

My ancestors were not apes.

Really?

If Adam & Eve were apes,

So was God,

Since they were made in His image.

If Adam & Eve were not real,

God is not real.

Really?

God is real.

He is truth.

Apes are real.

Apes are truth.

If Adam & Eve were apes, I am too, God is too.

That is truth.

God is still real for me.

Really!

Here is a copy to look at, as I read it again.  One thing I want you to carefully consider, maybe even write this down and keep it close.  “We know so very little.”  Okay, got it?  Think about it. Make this a good thing.  The unknown is often mysterious.  If we knew everything we never would have a question, would we?  I’m encouraging you to take life as it is, often good, but very often bad, dark, lonely, troubling, and sinister.  Let’s look back at my somewhat silly little poem.  Ruthie, if you will, read it out loud for the class.”

I did so and was struck by its simplicity and its perplexity.  I recognized it as a thing of beauty, a model that I could use in my life, especially in my life right now.

“Thanks Ruthie.  We note that it’s okay to both know and not know.  Can we know and not know at the same time about the very same thing?  ‘God is truth.’  This sounds right, but what is the author saying?  Forgive me, I said author.  I meant reader, because that is the one who determines what a poem means.  Sure, the writer/author/creator of the poem had his own thoughts, meaning, truth if you will, of what he was writing.  This can be very different for a reader.  Could it be that he or she is saying ‘the God that I know from the Bible is truth, no matter what science or anyone else says?’”

This type of poetry is often written strictly for ourselves.  Again, the model I’m sharing with you is mainly for you to answer your own questions, to help you carve out the best pathway for you to follow as you make your way through life.

One final thing about what may appear a simple little poem.  Poetry is the perfect playground for connecting things that normally don’t connect, that don’t usually go together.  Notice what we have done.  We believe that God creates—man or apes.  We believe that God creates Adam & Eve—whether they are man or ape—in His image.  Look at the line ‘If Adam & Eve were apes, I am too, God is too.’  Here we are calling God an ape.  Something you don’t hear very often.  But, in this helpful little tool we now have, we can do anything.  

I had so much more I wanted to say about this, but the surprise fire drill in the middle of my lesson said otherwise.  We are out of time.  Maybe we can continue this subject later.  I encourage each of you to start playing around with this type poetry, even tonight if you have time.  Start with a question you have about the world, one that is close to you.  See if you can discover new ways of looking at truth, or of creating your own truth.”  Mr. Johnson said.

It was as though he had prepared today’s class just for me.  His talk was just what I needed.  Some way of dealing with my struggle. I believe poetry can give me purpose and peace.  It can give me truth, even though I may not like it.  I’m excited about becoming a real, live, breathing truth-explorer.