ELEVATE, a poem and what I think is the process behind it

ELEVATE

Elevate me, O God, into what is highest within me.

Bring me to the sky where loose clouds loosen more

and show me what I cannot touch with my skin.

Loosen me so I break open like the sky above a thirsty earth.

Elevate me. O God, loosely, like clouds in their skin.

Touch what I cannot thirst after on this earth. Loosen me

until I cannot break and show me what is highest in me,

bringing within what is more, what breaks ceaselessly open.

Elevate me, O God, to the loosened earth where sky is a show

of what I cannot touch and clouds break open against my skin.

Break me open with thirst. Like the sky above the earth,

bring me what is highest, loose and within.

Elevate me, O God, within, where loose clouds show me

how I break open like a thirsty earth. Into what is highest

in me, bring your touch. Loosen me more, your cloud, this

skin. What is highest, open within this earth.

***

This is the poem that will appear in the paper tomorrow as the first of the Asheville Citizen-Times series on poetry/civic journalism. I've been writing about architecture for the past few months and this poem, and the ones that will appear on the paper's website, is a result of many of the ideas I've been exploring.

I think it's cool that from my drafts in approaching this image, I started to write one of these permutation poems--shifting words around within stanzas without adding new key words. It created something of a dome in words. The creative process always amazes me.

On Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday the paper will present other poet/photojournalist collaborations in honor and preparation for Wordfest. I'm so happy to be seeing poetry in the newspaper! Poetry used to be in the newspaper. . . and when we lost that we lost something more than column inches I believe.