Some chiastic poetry

Recently, I’ve taken to writing poetry in church–partially to keep me awake, but also to explore elements of worship, such as this one I wrote a few weeks ago:

Bread and water,
types of Christ,
bond us in the covenant
and make us His people;
bearing His name,
joined in discipleship,
remembering the Savior
by His flesh and blood.

My preferred form is the chiamus, a type of parallel structure that follows an inverted ABCCBA pattern.  For example, with the poem above:

> Bread and water,
>> types of Christ,
>>> bond us in the covenant
>>>> and make us His people;
>>>> bearing His name,
>>> joined in discipleship,
>> remembering the Savior
> by His flesh and blood.

Perhaps not the best example, but yeah, that’s the basic idea.  The parallel elements don’t necessarily have to rhyme, but they do have to share a common theme or idea, and the idea in the center is supposed to be the most important.

The ancient Hebrews used chiasmus quite a lot, and you can find many examples of it in the Bible and the Book of Mormon.  According to Avraham Gileadi, the entire book of Isaiah follows a chaistic structure.  My favorite example is probably Alma 36, where the whole chapter is one enormous, beautifully complex chiasmus.

Anyhow, I wrote one today that I thought was pretty good.  It’s not particularly religious, but it does have a lot of personal significance.

Enjoy!

Friends

Few things last forever;
most friendships come and go.
Others last enough to share
a closeness that can grow.
Self to self,
unveil the masks,
reveal your heart, and when
our souls connect,
this close
and lasting
friendship
never ends.