Making Space
Advent, a Poem, and Papercut Art
I have been away from this space for a while. Our family took a 3-month sabbatical and went on a road trip, which was amazing. I will share some of it in time (see picture above), but for now I have another poem from the collection I have been working on that I feel is fitting for this advent season.
The collection of poems is on the body and the body of Christ as a whole. This is one of my earlier poems. It was inspired by a friend who underwent heart surgery earlier this year. The heart is the centre of what is tender and raw. I imagined how he would feel for his heart to be opened up physically and how it parallels our spiritual journey. Our doubts and darkness speak to us and can linger in our bodies. We feel vulnerable at times. We all need the reminder of God’s love and how he will fill every part of our lives and dispels the darkness and doubts.
So I have a poem to share, but also a piece of art to go with it. I have admired paper cut art for a long time. One of my favourite paper cut artists illustrates children’s books. I love words, and it comes naturally for me to make art with words, especially as I am developing and working on my drawing skills, which I unfortunately stopped practicing when I was in my early teens, and have only resumed now as an adult.
I began with a simple silhouette of a person holding a heart and cut the letters of the last stanza of my poem into it. I called the poem “Making Space.”
As we wait for Jesus’ birth, it is a long waiting time. That is what Advent is set aside for. To give us time to prepare and wait. I imagine how long 9 months of pregnancy felt for Mary, how she had to physically make space in her body as she waited. We all do the same as we make space in our hearts. So this poem is also for all of us.
Making Space
by Avery Peters
When the heart is exposed
to the light of day
acoustics are altered:
the heard becomes visible at once.
Who can understand it?
What does the heart do
when it is stopped?
As if time is suspended—
waits for your return,
for you to find that ache again
that draws you to your work of loving.
For when you realize
that your inmost part
is on display
and another holds it in their hands.
All you can do is make space:
the kingdom of God is in you.
It starts small.
It needs space.
This time the work of love
is not the doing kind.
You must let it occupy you.
Feel it, embody it.
Let it grow to abundance.
Do you know the blessing
that courses through you?
You are infused
from head toe.
This blessing travels every vein
and lands in your heart
with a rhythm of love.
I’m still learning the best way to show the nature of a papercut and how it casts shadows and moves, so here is a video clip. I have a frame, but maybe a shadowbox is better? My son jumped in here with a thumbs up. Thanks buddy.