Ruah Poetry

Have you ever held so tightly onto something, convinced it was life and good and yours, only to find out it was none of those things? It’s interesting that the word cleave can mean either to “cling” or to “split apart”. I’m finding that in my pride I cleave to what isn’t good for me,…

Sometimes I write when I’m angry, but anger can stem from many different things. When I’m battling a writer’s block it’s an antagonizing anger. There’s so much beneath the surface that needs to be said, but I can’t declutter my thoughts enough to release it into poetry. When I’m processing grief I write from a…

The waves lashed angrily against the side of the boat as if its voyage was sheer disobedience. Inside this boat was a human, and inside this human was a heart banging on the chest cavity with a roaring, adrenaline-pumping plea of “get me out of here!” Standing in the echo of that thought the human…

I have no words yet I picked up my pen.The symphony you composed for me tonight Brings me back down to earth.You tether me here when thoughts,Intermixed with the pain from memories too raw to repeat,Send my heart and mind scattered on the tailwind of the thought“Will there ever be a normal again?”Banged up and…

I was a Junior in college the first time I was ever exposed to spoken word poetry. My roommate at the time knew I loved poetry and came home insisting I watch Buddy Wakefield and Anis Mojgani videos. Sarah, I am forever indebted to that night (and all those other times I made you sit…

Sometimes the pain of losing someone is not something I can ever relay in poetry, in paintings, media, song, or even in prayer, although I try. “Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too…