Personally, the highlight of my blog in 2007 was starting the Cyber-Psalm series. There is nothing I enjoy writing more or that stretches me spiritually and linguistically like these strange bits of poetry written blurry-eyed as soon as I wake up on a Friday. As a translator I thought of the Cyber-Psalms as untranslatable. Then my friend Oliver did an inspired translation of 16 into German! Over time they have grown freer and sometimes much stranger. Surely I must be losing my mind! Or maybe just freeing my soul.
There is a lot of tension in the Cyber-Psalms between sincere praise to God and just showboating for my readers. Also, are these psalms? Prayers? Songs? Poetry? I can tell you one thing: writing without the constraints of melody or the forms of P&W is an enormous relief. Trying to write a “chorus” is like dancing the macarena in a straightjacket. Even so, I do have some audio aspirations. I’d like to do audio recordings of all of the Cyber-Psalms some day when I can get some free time in a studio. Also, I would like to do a series of morning and evening collects similar to 2 and 4. My goal is to have 14 morning collects and 14 evening collects all set to melodies. Time! I have no time!
Speaking of poetry, the Cyber-Psalms are influenced by Walt Whitman, Gwendolyn Brooks, e.e. cummings and Gerard Manley Hopkins. And of course Eugene H. Peterson’s Psalms.
Speaking of psalms, there is no direct connection between a Cyber-Psalm and its corresponding Psalm in the Bible. I’ve never tried to riff on a Psalm even though the thought has crossed my mind. Coincidentally, after writing Cyber-Psalm 23 (Praise Dog) I thought there is a strange connection to Psalm 23 (about a sheep).
For the sake of my poor Mother who’s only hope is that her son would one day write a book, I plan to compile the Cyber-Psalms and print them through lulu.com as soon as I finish all 150.
One thing I’ve learned through this experiment is that my day-to-day experiences and emotions come out in the Cyber-Psalms and as the habit of weekly writing has become more ingrained my head and heart save up odd bits and pieces and put them together in surprising ways.
Well, that’s about all I wanted to say about the Cyber-Psalms. Praise God!
Well! That is quite a change. From the fluorescent hippo to subdued and business like. I was sure I wasn’t at the right place.
Regarding the Cyber Psalms, I think the line between freeing our souls and losing our minds may not always be as clearcut as we would like. I’m glad you don’t run from the one out of fear of the other.
I thoroughly appreciate the way your head and heart collect the odd bits and pieces and put them together. The result may be surprising, but it often resonates deeply with my own heart.
Nope. The hippo suits you better.
Wow- what’s up with the template change? Do you think it’s right to do such a thing???
I turned out the lights in order to match the color scheme of my new hippo. Things will return to normal probably on Monday.