“Storytellers” Poetry Contest RUNNER-UP: Poiesis and Other Poems
by Christel Jeffs
“Storytellers” Poetry Contest RUNNER-UP:
POESIS
Let there be white space
for the numb,
the tender,
the bruising denial
the aching fists.
For the pauses that tear trauma threads,
strip our souls clean and
fan air over wounds.
Let there be white space
so that grief can pour and the ink of your
confessions won’t fade
with your tears.
For glories and graces
unwritten,
held,
between my seat and yours:
poesis.
THE STORY BEHIND THE POEM:
I must acknowledge the Allender Centre podcast here, and their recent episode called “Processing Trauma through Poiesis.” Poiesis comes from the Greek verb “to make.” Therapist Sue Cunningham spoke on the power of “making” in trauma therapy. White space on a page of poetry mirrors the use of silence in the counselling room, and both can be just as salient as the words we write or speak. “I can let there be white space,” she said, which led me to reflect on the poiesis in my counseling room.
PSALM AND DISENCHANTMENT
Tell mercy to me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
I have doubted Your existence,
confounded by all the ways
we try to understand You.
How we create schemas,
frames to admire,
handholds to cling to.
How we try to make sense of a world
with none.
We paint You in our skin colours,
images
graven on our hearts.
What suits and tickles the ear,
we spread in worldviews,
doctrines.
We try to live with them all,
but perhaps we only want one.
I have asked questions
that were met with
silence.
I live with patterns repeating
on loop;
no chariot or horse
can break these chains.
I have doubted Your ability
to break them,
still do.
Oh Lord, tell mercy to me,
for your unfailing love is
bread and wine,
body and blood.
I taste You there
in the dry ache of desert in my mouth,
on my tongue parched
till I drink deep.
TWO ISLANDS AND A BOAT
If I am two islands
and a boat between them,
that shore of my new self is limestone
standing in a sea of acid rain
while the old self is
sand, made of
anchors that catch my feet
then fall away
to make me stumble.
The boat buckles
and wends
and looks to the God figure standing
on a twilight ocean,
inviting my wandering self
to step out.
CHRISTEL JEFFS
Christel Jeffs is, first and foremost, a beloved daughter of God – the one that Jesus loves. Beyond that she is a writer, editor, and soon-to-be-qualified counselor. She lives in Northland, New Zealand, the place which serves as the backdrop for her debut novel, The Gumdigger’s Wife (2016). Her poetry has also featured in several Fast Fibres Poetry anthologies. She loves to help others re-write their stories through her counselling work while continuing to author her own: guided by the greatest Storyteller of all.