In this special post, the three of us come together in a collaborative effort to weave our individual searches for Jesus together into a poem.
A/N: Blessed Wednesday everyone! To round off Odes to October month, Chris, Greg and I thought we would try writing a poem together. After giving it some thought, I struck upon the idea of modeling the poem after a Japanese collaborative style of poetry called “renga”.
You may notice that Greg’s first three lines take the form of the famous “haiku” – the three line, 17-syllable Japanese poem. A renga consists of a series of haikus linked together by a couplet – two lines of 7 syllables each. I thought the structured form of this poem would both impose healthy creative limitations (the challenge was to sum up the state of our current spiritual lives in a haiku), and aid some of us who had grave (and unfounded) doubts about our poetic abilities (*cough*Greg*cough*).
So over a long video call across various time zones, the three of us spent a light-hearted three hours listening to each others journeys and trying to fit our spiritual lives into 17 syllables, as well as finding ways to express where our spiritual lives overlapped, mainly in our combined desire to search for Jesus. Do let us know your thoughts on social media or if you ever wish to try a similar exercise with your community or loved ones. We hope you enjoy the read!
– Garrett
Greg:
I walk the desert
Relishing in a mirage
More real than the rain
Garrett:
Truth reveals reality
Turning desert to summer;
Lazy summer’s day
Seeker puts his satchel down
To hear the Lord’s words:
Chris:
“Why search for answers outside?
Can you find rest in me, child?”
New yet familiar
I cook a meal for Jesus
I am loved; He smiles.
Greg:
My meal and His Eucharist
We dine together and live
© 2018 Christ Centered Convo/Gregory Adrian Gunawan © 2018 Christ Centered Convo/Garrett Christopher Ng © 2018 Christ Centered Convo/Christopher Chok