There is a kind of a joke in our family about my ability to sing fragments of songs from a variety of sources. I know bits of a lot of songs from musical theatre, a smattering of popular songs, and songs from a wide variety of sources. Once, when we went for a treat with our children and the children of friends, I sang a few lines of Little Richard’s Good Golly Miss Molly. The youngest of our friends’ children was named Molly. Fortunately I didn’t embarrass her and it became a bit of a family joke.

It turns out that I know quite a few lyrics to songs. Recently we we taking about astrological signs and noted that we have several family members who are born in the month of Aquarius. I started singing a bit from Age of Aquarius. I don’t know the whole song. I don’t know all of the lyrics to Good Golly Miss Molly either. But I know a bit - enough to sing a few lines.

I’m not sure, but I think that the first poetry I memorized was in the form of song lyrics. I have memorized a few poems from the Bible including Psalm 23 and Psalm 90, and know bits of other poems, including words of the prophet Isaiah and the prologue to the Gospel of John, but I think that I learned them after I had learned the words to quite a few songs.

Then there are hymns. I have memorized bits of a lot of hymns. Of course a lot of people know quite a few Christmas Carols, but most of us also know first verses of a lot of different hymns. And there are several hymns of which I know multiple verses.

I was thinking about the songs I knew recently in regards to a conversation I had with a woman in our church who writes a bit of poetry. She read one of her poems at an event at our church last Sunday. She said that sometimes when she is stressed or feeling overwhelmed she will make up a poem, usually fitting words to a song that she knows. The song gives her the rhythm and a format for her words. She hasn’t ever published a poem, but she finds comfort and focus from the process of creating poetry for her own use. I have also created a few poems by thinking of hymns of songs that I know and coming up with alternate words.

I used to say that I didn’t read much poetry until I reached middle adulthood, but I don’t think that is entirely true. Even when I didn’t own books of poetry and have poems ready at hand, I encountered a lot of poetry through the music I chose and he hymns we sang in church. During my college and graduate school years, when my reading was largely focused on my studies and I did less discretionary reading, I was still regular encountering poetry in the form of the music of worship and the poetry of the Bible.

These days I read a lot of poetry. I visit the poetry section of our favorite local bookstore every time I enter the building, and I often find a volume that I want to purchase. I keep a shelve of poetry books right next to my favorite recliner and pull out poems to read when I have a few extra moments. I belong to a poetry group and I try on occasion to write a bit of poetry, responding to the prompts given for us to write. I have a folder on my computer with poems that I have written.

I am aware, however, that even as I enjoy reading poetry, there is a part of me that needs more than just reading. I don’t think it is an overstatement to say that I crave hearing poetry. So much of poetry is a lot more powerful when we hear it read out loud. Last night we missed a meeting of our poetry group because we were attending the birthday celebration of our granddaughter. It was a good choice. I love family time, family dinners, and family celebrations. We moved to this area after our retirement precisely because we wanted to be able to be close for birthday parties and family dinners and school events. I’m glad we made the choice to forge the poetry group. Still, when I was reflecting at the end of the day before crawling into bed, I realized that one of the things I missed was hearing the voice of one of the members of our poetry group. She is a published poet and I have a couple of her poetry books, but what I was missing was the sound of her voice. She has crisp, clear pronunciation and a special feel for the cadence of poetry. When she reads a poem, whether it be one she has written or the poem of another author, the words take on a new life in the tone and rhythm of her voice. It is a genuine gift. I know a lot of others who read in public, including a few preachers, who don’t seem to be able to get the rhythm of words. They pause in inappropriate places, break up the rhythm, and are a challenge for me to listen to. I can listen to them and understand their words, but they leave me longing for the sound of a poetic voice.

There are times when I read to discover the answer to questions. There are times I read to gain wisdom. But my encounters with poetry are different. There are many poems that don’t offer answers or wisdom. Some even leave you with more questions. My craving of hearing poems is even deeper than my quest for knowledge and wisdom. Poetry connects me with others across large expanses of time and space. Hearing poetry is transcendent.

Of course, not all encounters with poetry are transcendent. I’m pretty sure that no one experienced my off-key rendering of Good Golly Miss Molly in an ice cream shop to be transcendent. Still that bit of song created a memory that has survived for decades and would bring a smile to Molly even now that she has daughters of her own who are older than she was when she first heard me sing the song. That’s the way poetry is. It touches us at some place that is deeper than the surface. And it leaves us craving more.