Poetry – Page 6 – sethlewis.ie

You Can’t Explain The World Without Poetry

Science has limitations. It can tell us what things are made of, but it has trouble telling us what they are made for. Sometimes, if you want to explain the world fully, what you really need is a poem. Most of my poems come to me while I’m walking home after dropping the children to school, looking around at the world and trying to see the familiar things that surround me for what they really are. That’s where these three came from:

The Test // A Spoken Word Poem

There will always be the haters
The biters in the back
The baiters
The ones who only talk and never listen
And always know exactly what you’re missing Continue reading The Test // A Spoken Word Poem

The Headless Head Of Ireland

The history of Ireland is written in stone—crumbling stone—in the ancient walls and castles and cottages and churches dotted all across her landscape. I find them constantly fascinating, which I’m sure has something to do with the fact that I came here from a country that wasn’t covered in such tangible monuments to the past. When I look at them, they remind me that life is short, history is long, and the possessions and power that humans collect here on earth are only temporary.

Last week, our family stumbled across the ruined mansion of a man who was powerful and important, in the extreme. It was enormous. Even in ruins, it still impresses. But among the ruins, there was a statue that had toppled from its place in the Big Wind of 1839, and when it fell, the head broke off and was never recovered. Psalm 146 tells us to put our trust in the Lord, not in the power of mortal princes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more vivid picture of this warning than that statue of a man who was the head of all of Ireland, whose head has never been recovered. As I thought about what we had seen, I wrote this poem:

You Can’t Stand Still

You can’t stand still
You’re always moving
Toward the person
   You’re becoming
Life goes on
   And choices come
And something grows
   With every one Continue reading You Can’t Stand Still

If They’ll Do It For You, They’ll Do It To You

If you really want a loyal friend
Then find someone who’s loyal when
The friend they’re being loyal to
Isn’t you

If you want a friend to keep your secret
Find someone who will not gossip
Even if the one who asked them to
Is you

Continue reading If They’ll Do It For You, They’ll Do It To You

truth is never lost // a spoken word poem

The night before Christmas 2020 (a spoken word poem)

This year is different. We all feel the tension between it and our holiday celebrations. That’s what this spoken word poem is about:

Do Not Put Your Trust In Princes (A Poem)

This poem is inspired by Psalm 146 and by the year 2020:

Do not put your trust in princes
Do not hang your hopes on them
Their power and their prominence
Will soon come to an end

They will promise you security
(They always have a plan)
But if they save the future
It will soon need it again Continue reading Do Not Put Your Trust In Princes (A Poem)

the ruins of the future // spoken word poetry

I’ve always loved poetry as a medium, always felt that somehow the structure and rhythm of it helps me feel the impact of the meaning of the words more deeply. Maybe that’s why there is so much poetry in the Bible. This year I’ve enjoyed trying out the added layer of doing poetry as spoken word. It’s obviously homemade, but here’s my attempt at capturing a few thoughts about legacy: