Short Story: John learns to write poetry as an outlet for his sadness

Thanks, I like that comment. I would like to think that other deep-felt emotions as brought to a poem, via the heart, might be felt too, at times, like joy, for example, but then again, she might then feel the tears of joy too. I guess there were tears of some sort, in her most famous poem too, "Still I rise". Tears of grit, I imagine, mixed with a steely determinism, to live her life in her own way, being her own self. Still I Rise BY MAYA ANGELOU You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? ’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries? Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard ’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines Diggin’ in my own backyard. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I've got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.

@DocAndersen Yes, "the caged bird sings of freedom" is the ending line of that most meaningful poem.

@innertalks one of her best, although my favorite of hers is "I know why the caged bird sings" i modeled my own poetry after hers!

Thanks. Sufism is a bit like the Gnostics, or the Jesuits, or Hasidic Judaism. It is the mystical arm of Islam. Their ideas are deep, and their teaching stories are very interesting to read, at least, for someone like me, who likes to think these things over.

@innertalks That's something that being a Christian, I would never get involved in.

@just4him Well, Christianity is related to Judaism, and to Islam too; they both follow the laws of Moses. To be well versed in a few other religions to me, is a good thing, as when I talk to a Buddhist, for example, or to a Muslim, I have some credence with them, and so I think that I have more chance of showing them then, the truths of Christianity, then too. There are some crossovers, in these religions, such as the group, "Jews for Jesus" too.

Yes, strong emotions felt, like love, sadness, pain, can fuel us up with themselves, and we can tunnel them into a poem, or into some other creative direction too, such as painting, or writing a song.

Thanks. I am still in lockdown here, so writing stories, and poetry has helped me too. Maybe you should try writing some more poetry too.