Revised post, come back dear reader.

Last night I led a poetry workshop at VFC called "Expressing God in Just Your Way," in preparation for the Poetry Slam at the end of the month. Showing how you can speak of God in fresh ways that are your very own. A small group came, I had first them journal on some questions, thinking about where they're at right now in their everyday, in their routine, in what they're digging about in their life. It was such madness organizing the worksheets, I had six different papers and packets of examples and worksheets and everything got mixed up. but i finally made all their packets and had them finish reflecting. The best part of the workshop was the main activity--a fill-in-the-blank poem--in other words, I gave them the form, and they used their own substance. But giving them some form allowed for a new kind of scope in how they bring out their stuff. For instance, one sentence was "I come to you with faith and _____."
The first adjective is a more serious and over-reigning kind of adjective. I had them pick a second adjective that was a more everyday word, quite possibly a word to describe our humanness, like worry ordistress. So this showed them a good trick, how if you pair two adjectives, and use one that is more lighthearded and another that is more heavy. . . . Their juxtaposition is where things get dynamic. It creates a tension.
So the six students (from ages 17 to fifty-somethings) worked on this sheet for 10 mintues. I could see that I probably had too many blanks, to many parts of this. But then I was floored when they read. Their poems were amazing! And I was really surprised, because they were all filled with sorrow, these plea-ing, distressed hearts, (and with the way I sort of prompted their form) saying Here I am God, will you take me? They completely took the prompt for the direct addresses to God, asking God " Can I _______ (verb) you?" The voices in their poems were so real and so raw. devastating. with sigh. all i can say is i'm so honored to see these glimpses of struggle and worry, that we all have this. and how vivid and that much more real to pray or write to God with these pleas. how vulnerable!
i know now i must teach another. these were some of the best little poems i've heard, truly, and i usually get so bored at open mics or workshops and i just can't swallow cliches. but none of this was like that. it was all very sincere. yes. sincere. that is what I liked about it.