Spiritual Poetry
  by Adele Kenny

http://adelekenny.blogspot.com/p/spiritual-poetry.html

As poetry editor for Tiferet Journal, I'm often asked what the term "spiritual poetry" means. It is arguably true that nearly all poetry is “spiritual,” but there’s something more specific about the term as it relates to a particular kind of poetry. What I look for in “spiritual” poetry is a sense of the nature of spirit, the intangible as it relates to deity, to humanity, and to all that lives. A truly spiritual poem has an ineffable quality that is more than “religious” and more than temporal – a concern for realities that are unseen.

We may regard spiritual poetry as an inner path that enables us to share the deepest values and meanings of our human existence as we share our connectedness to larger reality. This includes our relationships with one another, relationships with the natural world and its creatures, our understanding of the world’s immanent or transcendent nature, and our belief in higher truth (divinity). Spiritual poetry points to the truth within us – the realization that the body is not who we really are, that we live in connectedness to everything, that there is no separation or death. Spiritual poetry is a way of recognizing and living our oneness with all creation.

I believe that, while they are not mutually exclusive, there is a difference between “spiritual’ and “religious” poetry, the latter being more specifically individualized expressions of our particular faiths. “Religion” is part of the larger spiritual journey, and “religious” suggests a “system” of belief; “spiritual” exists beyond any system or organizational structure, and spiritual poetry is more about enlightenment than belief.

Spiritual poetry is a poetry of relationships that often points to a particular truth or leads readers think more deeply about their own truths. It is a special way of saying, “yes” that shows without telling. It illuminates realities that that are not apparent to the senses or obvious to intelligence. It is, importantly, a way of expressing who we are and of inviting others to understand and to share with us.

To re-create a spiritual (sacred, mystical, visionary) experience in poetry does not necessarily take the reader directly into the experience; rather, the poet offers the reader an opportunity to reflect upon a dimension of mind that is charged with the emotional and subjective energy of the experience.


Tiferet: A Journal of Spiritual Literature
http://www.tiferetjournal.com/


Adele Kenny is the author of twenty-three books (poetry & nonfiction) with poems published in journals worldwide, as well as in books and anthologies from Crown, Tuttle, Shambhala, and McGraw-Hill. My awards include two poetry fellowships from the NJ State Arts Council and a Merton Poetry of the Sacred Award. I've worked as a guest poet for numerous agencies and have been featured in the Dodge Poetry Festival’s “Poets Among Us.” A former professor of creative writing in the College of New Rochelle’s Graduate School, I'm founding director of the Carriage House Poetry Series and a poetry editor for Tiferet Journal.

Adele Kenny  full bio
http://mysite.verizon.net/adelekenny/bio.html
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