What My Soul Already Knows: A Simple Poetry Practice for a Dark Night of the Soul
A simple writing practice for seasons of obscurity. This pantoum-inspired scaffold helps you slip beneath pro/con lists into felt sense, intuition, and deep knowing. You’ll follow a 3‑stanza template, then see examples.
Anchoring Into Deep Knowing
In the thick of a relational conflict years ago, I could not understand what my body was bracing against. Though I had no experience with poetry, I found my way into a surprisingly nourishing practice. Guided by a simple template called a “French Pantoum,” I remembered myself.
Attuning to my inner experience of the conflict helped me access things I already knew but could not reach directly amid the stress and my nervous system’s survival strategies.
It was powerful to name what I knew deep inside. Writing this poem was grounding—a way back to the wisdom that is already, always within me.
I’ve adapted that template as a Scaffold for Obscurity.
Writing a Pantoum for Obscurity
Here’s a practice that may help you slip below rational thinking and pro-con lists into intuition and wisdom. I hope this practice is as grounding for you as it has been for me.
Time: 10–20 minutes
You’ll need: notes app/journal + one song lyric
Invitation: enter playfully
Quick template (copy/paste):
Stanza 1: Line 1 / Line 2 / Line 3 / Line 4
Stanza 2: Line 2 / Line 6 / Line 4 / Line 8
Stanza 3: Line 6 / Line 3 / Line 8 / Line 1
Step-By-Step Instructions:
STANZA 1
Line 1: What it’s like when I’m connected and feeling alive (try to tune into the good here)
Line 2: The inner experience of the hard thing I’m holding
Line 3: A song lyric that resonates with me
Line 4: Words of wisdom I would say to my younger self (or words of wisdom from a loved one that stick with me)
STANZA 2
Line 5: (repeat of line 2 in stanza 1) The inner experience of the hard thing I’m holding
Line 6: (new line) My felt sense of what is hard right now (can be an image or a somatic sensation)
Line 7: (repeat of line 4 in stanza 1) Words of wisdom I would say to my younger self (or words of wisdom from a loved one that stick with me)
Line 8: (new line) What I wish to feel or experience
STANZA 3
Line 9: (repeat line 6 of stanza 2) My felt sense of what is hard right now (can be an image or a somatic sensation)
Line 10: (repeat line 3 of stanza 1) A song lyric that resonates with me
Line 11: (repeat line 8 of stanza 2) What I wish to feel or experience
Line 12: (repeat line 1 of stanza 1) What it’s like when I’m connected and feeling alive
Example pantoums (using the scaffold above)
Example #1
I see the past, present, and future with a vast spaciousness.
I am so very tired of bracing.
Can I see I’m not my mistakes? Will I learn to let them go?
Life is hard; that doesn’t mean you are doing it wrong.
I am so very tired of bracing.
I can’t seem to get a deep breath.
Life is hard; that doesn’t mean you are doing it wrong.
I want to remember.
I can’t seem to get a deep breath.
Can I see I’m not my mistakes? Will I learn to let them go?
I want to remember.
I see the past, present, and future with a vast spaciousness.
Example #2
I release the breath I’ve been holding, and my body softens into the moment.
I’m terrified, and I’m not totally sure why.
I see you, and I’m not going anywhere.
There’s a calming and a quickening. I am reminded that the way is made by walking.
I’m terrified, and I’m not totally sure why.
You are safe. You are loved. You are wise.
There’s a calming and a quickening. I am reminded that the way is made by walking.
I start feeling like myself again.
You are safe. You are loved. You are wise.
I see you, and I’m not going anywhere.
I start feeling like myself again.
I release the breath I’ve been holding, and my body softens into the moment.
If you want to share your poem with me, I’d love to read it!
I adapted this template from Tara Owens’ A Scaffold for Lament. Tara was one of my spiritual direction teachers and the founder of Anam Cara Ministries. If you want to expand your search for a spiritual director who is a fit for you, Anam Cara is a rich resource.
I’m Kirsten. If you’d like some company as you listen, come and journey with me in spacious accompaniment/spiritual direction—a place to attune to your inner experience over time, and to hold questions or intuitions you don’t want to carry alone.
A Quick Word From Kirsten…
These reflections and practices are written by a human artist and spiritual director. They are joyfully and freely given.
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