Poetry and the Spiritually Centered Life
by Robert McDowell



In one story I'm fond of, the mentor's essential words come from a surprising source. A family is trapped when a portion of the roof of the cave they're exploring collapses. The family members despair at ever digging their way out, worry about having enough air, and worry about dying of thirst. As they chip away at the wall of rock that confines them, they suffer many irrational, bleak moments. Taking a break, one of them discovers that they are not alone in the cave. A large tortoise has been keeping them company. The family continues to dig, but as the hours pile up their thirst becomes maddening. Then the daughter witnesses something amazing. A single drop of water falls from the ceiling above the tortoise, but before it can hit the ground, the tortoise's tongue darts out and catches it just so. The tortoise's tongue retracts, and its wise eyes seem to say to the girl, "That is how you may survive. Slow down, be patient, learn everything you can about your surroundings. Observe. Work steadily. Be ready."

Robert McDowell's poems, stories, essays, and reviews have appeared in hundreds of magazines and anthologies here and abroad, including Best American Poetry, Poetry, The New Criterion, Sewanee Review, and The Hudson Review. He has taught at Bennington College, the University of Southern Indiana, and UC Santa Cruz; and at the Taos Writers' Conference, among many writers' conferences; and he was founding publisher/editor of Story Line Press. In addition, he coaches businesses in improving spiritual awareness, communication, writing, and presentation skills.

His Web site is www.robertmcdowell.net.

POETRY AS SPIRITUAL PRACTICE shows how reading and writing poems and making them an essential part of daily rituals of aspirations and intentions can help readers on their quest to find peace, meaning, and success in their lives.

POETRY AS SPIRITUAL PRACTICE also shows readers how poetry creates clarity, deepens and expands ongoing spiritual inquiry, and generates greater wisdom, compassion, self-confidence, patience, and love.

McDowell illustrates his points with excerpts from well-known poems, good and bad, as well as work by students and work of his own. Interactive exercises appear throughout the text, allowing readers to practice methods for integrating poetry into their spiritual journeys.

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