America’s Mystical Poet

Posted byLisa at Micro of the MacroPosted inBeauty of Nature, SpiritualityTags:, , , , , ,

It was way back in November of 2022 that I last wrote an entire post about poetry (The Gift of Rumi), so I’m super excited to share this follow-up.

My friend Jan in Oregon went to a tulip festival earlier this year and shared these lovely pics with me. Thanks, Jan! I believe tulips and poetry are a great combo!

I’ve long been a fan of spiritual poetry.  To hear it read at church opens my heart like nothing else.  When I heard Rev. Lauri Gist at Unity of Ocala close her Sunday messages with verses from a poet she called her favorite, I knew I needed to read more from Chelan Harkin. 

From her About page on Amazon.com, Chelan has always had a close connection with the spiritual world, a loving, ecstatic and expressive spirit, and an intimacy in her soul that she longs to share with the whole world. Poetry is one of her favorite ways to accomplish this.  Chelan was raised in the Baha’i faith, and had a profound mystical experience at age 21 during a time of mental and emotional anguish.  She was shown the need to live in a more authentic manner, leading to the unleashing of her poetic force.

Before publishing her first collection of poetry, she came up with the idea of praying to Hafez, a mystical poet who lived in Iran during the 14th century.  Far from a traditional prayer, she asked the Persian poet for help getting published!  After a series of these prayers, she says her incoming stream of poetry became torrential, leading to an invitation to co-author a book with Daniel Ladinsky, who has written four books based on the poetry of Hafez.  She refers to that initial connection as the most nuts moment of her life.

Chelan has published 4 books of poetry since 2020, with another one which will be available in September of this year.  Mark Peters, from Dailygood.org, writes, In her poetry and in life, Chelan continually invites the fumbling, suffering part of ourselves and our divine nature to meet for tea in the heart, have a great laugh in the belly, and share a big hug.

In the early days, she hesitantly posted one of her poems on Facebook, and it went viral. I’ll share it here and you might understand its popularity:

The worst thing we ever did
was put God in the sky
out of reach,
‍‍‍‍‍‍pulling the divinity
from the leaf,
sifting out the holy from our bones,
insisting God isn’t bursting dazzlement
through everything we’ve made
a hard commitment to see as ordinary,
stripping the sacred from everywhere
to put in a cloud man elsewhere,
prying closeness from your heart.
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
The worst thing we ever did
was take the dance and the song
out of prayer,
made it sit up straight
and cross its legs,
removed it of rejoicing,
wiped clean its hip sway,
its questions,
its ecstatic yowl,
its tears.
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
The worst thing we ever did is pretend
God isn’t the easiest thing
in this Universe
available to every soul
in every breath.

In my post on Rumi, I said the reason for his modern popularity is the beautiful ways he shares truth.  I feel the same applies to Chelan Harkin, in her attempts to disassemble outdated ideas of Divinity while suggesting warmer, more intimate connections.

If you enjoy the poetry of Hafez and Rumi, you should check out Chelan Harkin.  This young poet’s work brims with heart-opening grace.

Poetic Blessings,

Lisa

I truly appreciate your being here! Please note that I will probably be late in responding to comments this week. Happy Summertime!

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36 thoughts on “America’s Mystical Poet”

  6. Thank you Lisa! Absolutely love this particular sentence!

    The worst thing we ever did is pretend
    God isn’t the easiest thing
    in this Universe
    available to every soul
    in every breath.

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  10. Dear Lisa, what a wonderful poem from Chelan Harkin! It places God into our own hands, our own bodies and allows us to converse directly with God within each of us! 💓🤗🙋‍♂️

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  13. Well, I have to say this topic is about as far as it gets from my wheelhouse. My college English lit instructor and I came to a quick agreement on my affinity for the written rhyme. Admire those that can immerse and converse themselves in that medium!

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  14. What a delightful and inspiring read, Lisa. Her words about God’s presence in the ordinary and the importance of joyful, heartfelt prayer are truly moving. Poetic blessings to you too! 😃

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  16. Lisa, I love Hafiz’ poetry and tulips.
    Last time I went to see tulips in Kyiv, it was years ago. Now I live in Oregon, do you know where your friend Jan went to see them? I’m super curious. Thank you!

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