The language of poetry⁣
is the language of the invisible ⁣
words arranged in such a way⁣
that they become, briefly,⁣
a stanza capable of carrying⁣
what no ordinary sentence could⁣

It is alchemy of a particular kind⁣
not gold from lead⁣
but life from what we ignored⁣
in the waking hours,⁣
the unsaid that gathers⁣
in the corners of a mind⁣
the way dust gathers⁣
in a room nobody enters⁣
And it is cleaning⁣
not the cleaning we recognise⁣
but the slower kind⁣
that the mind cannot do for itself⁣
⁣
The invisible God⁣
becomes visible in the rhythm,⁣
the way faith does,⁣
arriving without announcement⁣
The invisible envy⁣
appears in the humble articulation⁣
which is the only place⁣
envy ever truly admits itself⁣
The invisible love⁣
finds a syntax⁣
the way water finds its level,⁣
without trying,⁣
without being asked⁣
⁣
It alchemises yesterday’s version of you⁣
into the growing version of today⁣
It transforms your defeat⁣
into the story of your becoming⁣
It surfaces the awareness⁣
hiding beneath your fears⁣
This is not magic⁣
Poetry is the slow work⁣
of paying attention⁣
to what you have been refusing to see

NaPoWriMo Day 26 prompt – And now for our prompt (optional, as always). The Latin phrase ars poetica means “the art of poetry.” It’s been a tradition going all the way back to Horace for poets to write poems that lay out – whether explicitly or obliquely – some statement about why the poet writes, or what they think poetry is. Here’s a very recent example, another that I had to study in school, and a very long, witty ars poetica by Alexander Pope. Today, we challenge you to write your own ars poetica, giving the reader some insight into what keeps you writing poetry, or what you think poetry should do.