by Marcie Bridges, @Marcie_Bridges
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
and put their trust in him.
Psalm 40:3
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Pixabay.com |
And so it began. My love of putting words together in rhyme. Ahhhh what bliss! What joy! Another poem was born (I am typing it just like I wrote it then with no changes):
Jesus is my Lord and Savior,
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My Poetry Binders! |
Jesus is my sorrow changer,
Jesus is the one who died
to pay the debt I owe.
Jesus is the one who saved me,
Jesus is the one who changed me,
And Jesus is the one who died
to pay the debt I owe.©1984
From there I began to pour my feelings out on paper. Whatever I was
thinking about. Whatever I was feeling. Whoever I was in love with. I
put it down in poetic form.
Then
in high school I began sharing my poetry. We had a magazine called
Scroll and I have several published within their pages. My junior year
was really when my poetry took off though. Our English teacher, Mr.
Andrews (he passed away this last April), had us make a poetry book. We
had to write every single kind of poem there is. Freeform, Haiku,
Limerick, etc… That was so fun! I kept that book. I have it here
somewhere. (Next time I find it I’ll be sure to post a picture.)
Then we had to make a book of poems we really liked and explain them. This is when my mom gave me her book, 742 Heart-Warming Poems compiled by John R. Rice.
If writing poetry is heaven, reading poetry is the next best thing. I
love this book (no exaggeration!). I have read every single poem in it
at least once and some of them lay in my heart like my best friends whom
I cherish deeply like: Lillie Buffum’s “Dad’s Cigar” or God’s Bank Ain’t Busted Yet by Alice P. Moss or All Things Bright and Beautiful by Cecil Frances Alexander.
runs in the blood. Poetry gives us a way to say the things we are not
sure how to say any other way. Some days all I do is breathe poetry.
Other days I see it in every part of life. God gave us this wonderful
gift of voice. Now more than anything, I love writing about God, His
word, His creation, and His blessings to us through His son Jesus
Christ.
Do you have a favorite poet or poem?
From My Heart to Yours,
Marcie
Tweet, Tweet!
I have far too many favorites to list and my own are too long to share here, but I am so glad you shared how you began writing poetry. I began writing poetry in junior high school. One of my great aunts wrote humorous poetry and a cousin wrote cowboy poetry. I have since discovered a beautiful poem by a great grandmother, so it does run in the blood! Thank you for sharing your gift with us!
Cowboy poetry eh? I'll have to look that one up. I assume it has to with cowboys though. 🙂 I'm working on my humorous side. 🙂
I love poetry and there are too many for me to claim a favorite. I think I may have a favorite for a particular season and then life changes and another one takes its place. But every poem has a piece of my heart!
You are sooo speaking my language Becky! I do that too. I think picking a favorite poem is like picking a favorite song or Bible verse. There are just too many to choose from! 🙂
I love Robert Frost and Mary Oliver, Marcie. Of course, there are others but these two stand above the rest. Thank you for sharing this post. I'm a fellow lover of poetry! Blessings to you…
I've always loved Robert Frost and I just learned of Mary Oliver in my last semester of college but I liked what I read of hers. My other favorites include Helen Steiner Rice and Roy Lessin but then there's Wordsworth and George Herbert. Thank you for stopping by and sharing with me. Blessings to you too Cathy! 🙂
Marcie, I enjoyed learning about your early days of writing poetry. Helen Steiner Rice greatly influenced my poetry when I was a new Christian, and now I love free verse and poetry by Luci Shaw too, as well as many others (yours included).
Blessings ~ Wendy
Thank you so much Wendy. Your poetry always inspires me as well. Luci Shaw sounds familiar to me. I'll have to look her up. Blessings to you too 🙂
I LOVE hearing your story Marcie! You are the only person I know that I think is a true poet through and through – it OOZES out of you! Thank you for sharing your gift with us.
Awww thanks sweet Nan.